^OD. 


tihxaxy  of  t1>e  Cheolo^icd  ^emmarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•(J^D- 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 

BX^87S 


RUFUS  H.  LEFEV'ei^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/ethipiaortwentysOOflic 


MAP  OF  THE  SHERBRO  COUNTRY. 


ETHIOP 


OR, 


Twenty-Six  Years  of  Missionary  Life 


IN 


WESTERN   AFRICA, 


WITH    AN 


Appendix  Embpaeing  ttie  Period  between  1817  §  1882. 

REV.  D.  K.  FLICKINGER. 


^'Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands  to  God." 


DAYTON,   OHIO: 

UNITED   BRETHREN   PUBLISHING   HOUSE. 

1882. 


BOOK  COMMITTEE'S  RECOMMENDATION. 

The  undersigned  having  examined  the  manuscript  copj'  of  a  book  written 
by  Rev.  D.  K.  Flickinger,  entitled,  "Ethiopia ;  or.  Twenty  Years  of  Mis- 
sionary hfe  in  Western  Africa,"  do  hereby  approve  its  publication,  and  rec« 
ommend  it  to  the  favor  of  the  people  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ. 


D.  Berg&r. 


1 


J.  W.  HoTT.  1  Book 

W.  O. 


TOBKT. 

Wm.  Mittendorf 


I- 


Committee. 


Dayton,  Ohio,  July  lo,  1877. 


Entered  according  to  act  cf  Congress,  in  the  year  1877, 

BY  EEV.  W.  J.  SHUEY, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


STEHKOTYPKD  AT  THB 

UNITED  BRETHREN   PRINTING  HOUSE, 

DAVTON,    OHIO. 


INDORSEMENT. 


FKOM    REV.   J.    K,    BILLIIEIMER. 

The  fact  that  the  author  has  been  for  twenty  years  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  Home,  Frontier,  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  is  sufficient  to  recommend 
these  pages-  In  this  relation  he  has  acquired,  by  personal  visitation, 
a  complete  knowledge  of  its  missionary  operations  throughout  the 
Church.  He  knows  the  African  mission  intimately  from  the  begin- 
ning. Others  have  spent  more  time  in  that  country,  but  his  official 
connection  with  the  mission  has  remained  unbroken  from  the  time 
it  was  projected  to  the  present ;  and  four  times  has  he  crossed  the 
ocean,  giving  his  personal  service  to  that  work  for  from  one  half  to 
one  and  a  half  years  each  time. 

In  this  volume  he  makes  no  attempt  at  theories  or  probabilities! 
but  gives  us  an  interesting  sketch  of  the  people  and  their  customs 
and  habits,  and  of  mission-life  among  them.  I  feel  confident  that 
the  circulation  of  this  volume  will  awaken  many  latent  hearts  to 
sympathy  with  the  mission.    Respectfully. 

J.   K.   BiLLHBIUBB. 

Dayton,  Ohio,  August  1,  1877. 


FROM    REV.   JOSEPH    GOMER. 

Having  examined  carefully  the  manuscript  pages  of  "Ethiopia; 
or,  Twenty  Years  of  Missionary  Life  in  Western  Africa."  I  take 
great  pleasure  in  certifying  to  the  correctness  of  its  delineations  of 
the  country,  its  inhabitants,  and  their  modes  of  life.  The  brief  and 
vivid  method  the  author  has  adopted  in  treating  his  subjects  will 
add  greatly  to  the  interest  of  the  book,  and  especially  will  his  his- 
tory of  Sherbro  Mission  prove  a  highly  valuable  part  of  the  vol- 
ume 

JUSEFB  QOUSB. 


PREFACE. 


Twenty  years  ago  a  small  book,  entitled  "  Ofif-Hand  Sketches 
in  Africa,"  was  written  and  published  by  the  author  of 
the  present  volume.  It  received  sufficient  favor  to  justify  the 
issuing  of  several  editions.  Most  of  the  matter  contained  in  that 
volume,  thoroughly  revised,  and  with  material  additions,  has  been 
transferred  to  the  pages  of  the  present  book.  Other  portions  of 
the  book,  especially  some  of  the  letters  from  missionaries  in 
Africa,  and  the  notes  from  the  journal  of  one  of  their  number, 
are  now  for  the  first  time  given  to  the  public.  These  portions 
will  be  found  valuable  as  aiding  in  giving  a  connected  history  of 
Sherbro  Mission.  The  illustrations  of  African  scenery,  im- 
plements, and  so  on,  with  a  single  exception,  are  engraved  from 
original  photographs,  as  are  also  those  of  the  persons  represent- 
ed, and  may  be  relied  on  as  being  essentially  correct.  The  map 
of  the  Sherbro  country  and  adjacent  regions,  engraved  especially 
for  this  book,  will  be  found  valuable.  Rev.  J.  K.  Billheimer, 
who  is  familiar  with  the  country,  testifies  to  its  essential  ac- 
curacy. The  book  is  sent  forth  with  a  sincere  desire  that  by 
contributing  to  the  increase  of  knowledge  of  western  Africa 
and  the  condition  of  its  people,  it  may  aid  in  awakening  Chris- 
tian sympathy  and  stimulating  effort  for  the  deliverance  of 
millions  from  the  night  and  chains  of  heathenism. 

D.  K  FLICKINGER. 


INTRODUCTION. 


If  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  facts  to  be  presented  and 
an  intensified  interest  in  the  subject  to  be  treated  constitute  any 
part  of  the  essentials  requisite  for  authorship,  then  the  writer  of 
the  following  pages  may  lay  more  than  ordinary  claims  to  this 
qualification.  At  four  different  times  he  crossed  the  ocean  to 
visit  the  lands  and  the  people  of  which  he  writes  the  first 
voyage  being  made  some  twenty-two  years  ago.  Since  then  the 
mission  at  that  time  organized  has  occupied,  his  unceasing 
thought  and  care,  and  no  other  man  is  so  intimately  acquainted 
as  he  with  its  history  through  all  the  stages  of  its  development  to 
the  present  time.  Mr.  Flickinger  has  long  cultivated  habits  of 
close  observation,  and  when  traveling  is  thoroughly  wakeful  to 
everything  that  transpires  about  him.  His  sketches  of  the  peo- 
ple of  western  Africa,  of  their  habits,  customs,  modes  of  life, 
superstitions,  and  idolatries,  are  drawn  from  notes  made  on  the 
ground.  His  ability  to  acquire  so  close  a  knowledge  of  African 
life  was  largely  gained  through  the  influence  his  official  position 
secured  for  him  with  the  native  African  chiefs.  The  sketches 
are  vividly  drawn,  and  frequently  give  us  in  the  fewest  words 


INTRODUCTION. 

Strikingly  distinct  impressions  of  the  scenes  described  or  the 
facts  stated.  The  copious  extracts  from  the  letters  of  mission 
aries  now  in  the  field,  and  of  others  who  have  served  there  in 
other  years,  as  also  the  notes  from  the  journal  of  one  of  the 
principal  missionaries,  form  an  interesting  and  valuable  part  of 
the  book.  In  this  correspondence  indeed  will  be  found,  inci- 
dentally, drawn  from  strictly  original  sources,  an  instructive 
portion  of  the  history  of  the  mission.  The  history,  by  means  of 
these  letters,  is  brought  down  to  the  present  time. 

Having  read  carefully  these  pages  in  the  proof-sheets,  I  take 
the  sincerest  pleasure  in  commending  the  book  to  the  good  will 
of  others.  The  general  reader  will  find  it  highly  interesting  and 
profitable.  And  especially  do  I  recommend  it  to  the  favor  of 
those  having  the  care  of  Sabbath-schools  as  a  book  eminently 
suited  to  the  requirements  of  the  library,  and  adapted  to  the  in- 
struction of  the  young. 

DANIEL  BERGER. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapteh.  Paqk. 

I,    The  country  and  people 9 

II.    Towns,  locality  and  description U 

III,  Houses,  how  furnished 13 

IV.  Barras ^.  15 

V.    Food 17 

VI.    Cooking,  eating,  bathing _.  19 

VII.    Dress 22 

VIII.    Their  sleeping  fixtures ^  24 

IX.    Labor,  farming,  manufactures,  trades 26 

X.    War „  31 

XI.    Amusements 32 

XII.    Their  physical  structure 35 

XIII.  Dispositions,  taste  for  music 38 

XIV.  Deceptions ^  40 

XV.    Evangelization,  its  difficulties 43 

XVI.    Languages 46 

XVII.    Marking  time,  counting,  etc 48 

XVIII.    Etiquette ! 52 

XIX.    Ancient  customs 55 

XX.    Laws,  government 57 

XXI.    Oaths,  currency 60 

XXII.    Matrimony,  abuse  of  women 62 

XXIII.  Funeral  ceremonies,  witchcraft 70 

XXIV.  Theology,  devil-worship 76 

XXV.    Gregrees 81 

XXVI.    Creation  of  man 89 

XXVII.    Future  state 92 

XXVIII.     Slavery,  slave-trade 95 

XXIX.    Purrow-bush  society 100 

XXX.    Condition  and  wants  of  the  people 104 

XXXI.    Emcouragemeats  to  labor 106 

XXXII.    The  vicious  inflaence  of  the  whites ».#.  Ill 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter. 

xxxm. 

XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 

xxxvn. 
xxxvin. 

XXXIX. 

XL. 
XLI. 

XLn. 

XLIII 
XLIV. 

XLV. 

XLVI. 

XL  VII. 

XLVIII. 

XLVIX. 


Page. 

What  justice  demands,  God  commands II9 

Measure  and  test  of  love 119 

What  the  Gospel  will  do 127 

Location  of  Sherbro  Mission 132 

Shengay  Mission-Station 136 

Dr.  Witt  and  Rev.  J.  A.  Williams 140 

Religious  awakening,  first  converts : 142 

What  was  done  from  1860  to  1870 146 

Mr.  Gomer  and  wife  and  Mr.  Evans  sent  to  Africa, 

Mrs.  Hadley's  return _ 154 

Another  chapel  needed,  appointment  of  Mr.  Warner 

and  wife 159 

How  two  chiefs  who  wore  at  enmity  became  reconciled  161 
Missionaries  coming  from  and  going  to  Africa,  Indus- 
trial School 163 

Rev.  J.  A.  Evan? -  166 

Extracts  from  Rev.  J.  Gomer's  journal -  167 

Letters  written  by  missionaries -  180 

What  we  can  and  ought  to  have,  soon,  in  Africa 237 

Letters  from  Missionaries 241 


Missionary  Life  in  Western  Africa. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  COUNTRY  AND  PEOPLE. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  and  immediately 
Bouth  and  south-east  of  the  colony  of  Sierra 
Leone,  are  the  country  and  people  of  which  1 
shall  write,  with  the  distinct  understanding  that 
what  I  shall  say  of  the  people  will  relate  to  those 
tribes  visited  by  me  in  my  sojournings  in  that 
country,  namely,  the  Mendi,  Sherbro,  and  Timiny 
tribes. 

In  Africa,  as  in  other  heathen  countries  simi- 
larly governed,  tribes  living  adjacent  to  each  other 
are  materially  unlike  in  their  customs  and  habits, 
as  also  in  respect  to  moral  character,  some  having 
sunk  much  lower  in  vice  than  others ;  and  this 
accounts,  in  part,  for  the  seemingly  conflicting 
statements  of  missionaries  who  have  visited  tha* 
country. 


10  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

Below  the  Sierra  Leone  mountaiiiB,  and  imme- 
diately on  the  coast,  the  country  is  low  and 
marshy,  and  much  of  it  is  inundated  with  water 
when  the  streams  are  highest  during  the  rainy 
season.  The  country  is  thickly  interspersed  with 
rivers,  many  of  which  are  mere  tide-water  streams 
in  the  dry  season  ;  or  at  most,  above  the  point 
where  the  tide  ceases  to  affect  them  they  dwindle 
down  to  small  creeks  and  rivulets. 

The  principal  timber  of  the  lowlands  is  the 
mangrove-tree.  A  little  of  other  kinds,  such  as 
bamboo,  palm,  cotton,  and  so  on,  is  to  be  found.  On 
the  highlands  the  soil,  timber,  and  general  appear- 
ance of  the  country  is  different, — the  soil  being  ar- 
gillaceous and  more  fertile  than  in  thelow^lands,  the 
country  undulating,  and  much  of  it  without  tim- 
ber, and  covered  thickly  with  very  tall  grass. 

The  physical  geography  of  Africa  is  full  of  in- 
terest; but  it  is  foreign  to  my  object  to  enter 
upon  its  consideration  and  with  this  bare  allusion 
to  it  I  dismiss  the  subject. 


IN    WESTERN   AFllICA.  11 


CHAPTER  11. 

TOWNS — LOCALITY  AND  DESCRIPTION.^    ■ 

On  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  and  generally  near 
a  large  tree,  or  something  of  the  kind  to  mark  the 
locality,  and  in  villages  and  towns,  the  people  all 
live,  except  that  occasionally  a  few  families  collect 
together  a  short  distance  from  the  water-side,  and 
immediately  back  from  a  town  to  which  they  are 
tributary. 

Their  towns  are  built  without  any  regularity  or 
order,  having  no  streets  or  regularly  laid-out  walks 
in  them.  The  houses  being  placed  on  the  ground 
without  method,  and  so  close  to  each  other  that 
often  there  is  barely  room  to  pass  between  them, 
a  stranger  finds  some  difficulty  in  winding  his  way 
out  of  a  large  African  town  when  he  has  ventured 
any  considerable  distance  from  the  place  of  en- 
trance. The  great  irregularity  and  constant 
windings  about  are  well  calculated  to  bewilder. 

Some  of  these  towns  are  barricaded,  or  fenced, 
in   the  following  manner:     Two   rows   of  posts 


12  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

about  four  feet  apart,  planted  in  the  earth,  and  ex- 
tending above  the  ground  from  eight  to  ten  feet, 
the  posts  being  close  to  each  other,  make  up  the 
entire  fortification.  These  have  from  two  to  four 
door-ways,  which  are  closed  at  night,  and  often 
guarded  during  the  day,  if  danger  from  war,  or 
other  cause,  is  apprehended. 

If  the  reader  has  ever  seen  in  the  distance,  and 
on  the  borders  of  a  wood  in  some  of  our  fine 
grazing  districts,  a  large  collection  of  hay-stacks, 
which  had  been  some  time  exposed  to  the  weather, 
he  has  in  his  mind  a  very  proper  image  of  an 
African  town.  The  houses  are  jumbled  together 
in  a  small  compass.  The  largest  town  I  was  in, 
having  near  a  thousand  inhabitants,  did  not  cover 
more  ground  than  is  usually  occupied  by  a  village 
of  one  hundred  inhabitants  in  this  country.  In 
that  land  of  wars  it  is  unsafe  to  live  without  bar- 
ricades; and  hence  the  less  ground  occupied  in 
building,  the  less  there  will  be  to  inclose. 


IN    WESTEKN    AFRICA.  13 


CHAPTER  III. 


HOUSES — HOW   FURNISHED. 


Their  houses  are  mere  mud-huts,  with  ground 
floors,  wattled  walls, — plastered  with  mud  both 
outside  and  inside, — and  thatched  roofs.  Some  are 
square,  others  are  circular,  and  hence,  to  make  the 
representation  referred  to  in  the  preceding  chapter 
correct,  there  should  be  some  ricks  of  grain  as 
well  as  stacks.  They  have  no  fire-places  or  chim- 
neys in  their  houses,  though  they  often  have  fire 
in  them  during  the  night  season,  as  then  the 
ground  is  very  damp;  and  the  natives  are  fond  of 
sleeping  near  the  fire.  The  fire  is  placed  on 
the  ground,  and  the  smoke  is  left  to  find  its  way 
out  as  best  it  can,  generally  having  little  difficul- 
ty, however,  in  making  its  escape,  because  around 
the  eaves  of  the  roof,  if  nowhere  else,  there  is 
always  considerable  open  space. 

They  have  one  or  more  door  and  window  'pl<^ccs 
in  their  houses,  ordinarily — usually,  however,  with- 
out windows  or  doors  in  them  j  but  generally  they 


14  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

have  mats  suspended  above  the  door  and  window 
places,  which  are  dropped,  like  curtains,  when  they 
wish  to  close  their  houses,  a  thing  seldom  done 
in  day-time.  These  houses,  rude  as  they  may 
seem,  afford  tolerable  protection  in  a  tropical 
'liraate,  when  they  are  well  built.  As  might  be 
inferred,  they  are  very  damp  in  the  rainy  season, 
and  hence  unhealthy  to  foreigners. 

The  best-furnished  houses  it  Avas  my  privilege 
to  see  in  that  country,  among  real  heathens,  have 
nothing  more  in  them  than  a  couple  of  country 
chairs,  or  blocks  of  wood  to^sit  upon,  a  couple  of 
iron  pots  for  cooking,  a  wooden  bowl  and  a  spoon 
or  two,  and  a  rudely-constructed  bedstead,  a  de- 
scription of  which,  with  the  bedding,  will  be  given 
in  another  part  of  this  book. 

Immediately  on  the  coast,  and  where  they  have 
mingled  with  white  traders  and  missionaries,  and 
had  access  to  trading  establishments,  some  of  them 
have  better  furnished  houses;  but  everywhere  are 
houses  not  so  well  furnished  as  those  I  have  de- 
scribed. 


IN    WESTERN    AFllICA.  15 


CHAPTER   TV. 

BARRAS. 

In  every  town  or  village  there  are  also  from  one 
to  six  barras.  A  barra  is  a  mere  open  shed ;  or 
at  best  it  has  no  more  than  one  or  two  sides 
closed,  and  often  none  at  all.  In  these  they  do 
their  cooking,  ordinarily;  and  from  a  half  dozen  to 
a  dozen  families  use  the  same  one  for  a  kitchen. 
Some  noted  head-men  who  have  many  wives,  have 
a  barra  to  themselves,  which  their  wives  occupy 
not  only  as  a  kitchen,  but  as  a  workshop  in  gen- 
eral. 

One  or  more  of  these  in  each  town  are  called 
palaver-houses.  These  answer  the  same  purposes 
Avhich  our  court-houses  do  in  this  country,  and 
are  not  used  for  the  purposes  alluded  to  above. 
In  these  palaver-houses  the  head-men  of  towns 
meet  to  adjust  difficulties,  settle  disputes,  try  cul- 
prits, etc.;  and  when  they  are  not  thus  engaged 
they  spend  much  of  their  time  in  the  palaver- 
houses  playing  the  walle. 


16  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

It  was  my  privilege  several  times  to  be  present 
when  court  was  in  session ;  and  I  was  quite  as  much 
interested  in  the  doings  of  the  head-men  who  were 
officially  convened  to  transact  business,  as  I  ever 
was  in  a  court-room  in  America. 

At  one  time  I  saw  them  try  an  adulterer.  It 
was  done  in  this  manner:  The  man  highest  in 
authority  occupied  the  chair.  But  this  chair  must 
be  described :  A  three-pronged  limb  of  a  tree,  with 
the  prongs  cut  oft", — one  a  little  shorter  than  the 
other  two,  making  the  top  incline  backward, — the 
prongs  answering  for  legs — being  about  three  feet 
high,  with  a  stick  flattened  on  top,  tied  to  the 
longer  legs  with  bark,  about  one  foot  from  the 
ground,  this  making  the  seat  of  the  chair.  On 
this  rude  chair  sat  the  old  man  during  the  prog- 
ress of  the  trial.  AllJ  present,  the  chairman  or 
judge  excepted,  participated  in  pleading  the  cause, 
some  for  and  others  against  the  accused.  They 
ppoke  in  order,  one  at  a  time,  all  showing  due  re- 
spect to  the  one  who  had  the  floor.  The  counsel, 
or  attorneys,  did  not  direct  their  remarks  to  the 
chairman  particularly,  but  seemed  to  show  him 
more  deference  than  the  others. 


ff^v^  -.        -1..  - 


WOMEN   IN  WESTERN  AFRICA, 


IN   WESTEllN   AFRICA.  17 


CIIArTER  V. 

FOOD. 

The  principal  article  of  food  used  by  the  Afri- 
cans is  rice;  and  it  does  not  matter  lohat  else  they 
have  eaten,  or  how  much,  they  never  think  they 
have  a  meal  until  they  have  swallowed  at  least  a 
pint  of  rice,  which,  when  boiled,  makes  two  innts  ! 
They  use,  however,  quite  a  variety  of  animal  food, 
fruits,  and  other  vegetables  besides,  which  they  eat 
with  their  rice,  or  between  meals. 

Fowls  of  every  kind  common  to  the  country, — 
they  have  chickens  in  abundance,  but  have  nothing 
with  which  to  kill  wild  fowls — fish,  which  are  found 
quite  plenty  in  most  of  the  rivers,  rats, 
monkeys,  frogs,  alligators,  ants,  bugs,  with  what- 
ever else  the  country  affords,  whether  of  the 
creeping,  running,  swimming,  or  flying  kind,  are 
all  freely  eaten. 

The  bug-a-bug,  a  species  of  the  ant,  is  regarded 
as  a  great  delicacy  by  many.  Animals  found 
dead,  if  not  in  a  putrid  state,  are  also  eaten. 


18  MTSSIONARt   LIFE 

Their  principal  vegetables  are  rice,  cocoa,  potato, 
sweet-potato,  yams,  and  cassada.  The  latter  two 
grow  in  great  abundance,  and  are  highly  prized 
as  articles  of  food. 

Their  fruits  are,  oranges,  bananas,  limes,  plan- 
tains, pine-apples,  guavas,  papaws,  mangoes, 
African  cherries,  grapes,  pears,  sour-sops,  sweet- 
sops,  tamarinds,  cocoa-nuts,  and  plums  of  various 
kinds.  Many  of  these  grow  spontaneously,  and 
all,  as  also  the  vegetables,  are  as  delicious  and  nu- 
tritious as  the  fruits  and  vegetables  of  this  coun- 
try. 

Some  of  the  oils,  especially  the  palm-oil,  are 
freely  used  in  the  preparation  of  food,  or  mixed 
with  food  after  cooking.  In  the  rainy  season  they 
put  a  high  estimate  upon  oil ;  for,  as  they  say, 
the  "rice  stay  longer  and  keep  cold  from  catch 
them," — meaning,  that  they  do  not  become  hungry 
80  soon  after  eating  with  oil  as  without  it,  and 
that  they  do  not  suffer  so  much  from  cold. 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  19 


CHAPTER  VI. 

COOKING,   EATING,   BATHING. 

Their  cooking,  as  .to  thoroughness  and  cleanli- 
ness,— when  they  are  cleanly, — is  not  so  objection- 
able as  are  some  of  the  articles  of  food  used. 

The  only  cooking-utensils  they  have  are  iron 
pots;  and  ordinarily  they  have  a  large  one  in 
which  to  boil  rice,  and  a  smaller  one  in  which  to 
prepare  animal  food,  or  vegetables. 

Before  eating,  they  usually  mix  with  the  rice 
whatever  else  they  may  have,  often  turning  the 
contents  of  the  smaller  pot  into  the  larger,  stirring 
all  together;  then  taking  it  out  into  other  vessels, 
if  they  have  them,  which  seldom  is  the  case, 
they  give  to  each  his  portion.  They  eat  with 
wooden  spoons,  if  they  have  them — but  this  is 
rarely  the  case.  They  stand,  or  sit,  or  lie  at 
their  meals,  as  their  inclination  may  prompt. 
The}^  know  nothing  of  the  use  of  tables. 

The  more  common  way  of  eating  is  to  gather 
around  the  pot,  and   convey  the  food  from  it  to 


20  MISSIONAllY    LIFE 

tlie  mouth  with  the  hand.  They  also  take  drink 
out  of  the  hand,  but  sometimes  they  have  gourds 
for  that  purpose. 

Knives,  forks,  spoons,  and  water-cups  are  only 
used  by  those  who  have  learned  their  use  from 
traders  or  missionaries. 

They  eat  but  twice  a  day,  and  generally  between 
nine  and  ten  o'clock  a.  m.  and  five  and  six  o'clock 
p.  M. 

They  are  the  most  gluttonous  eaters  I  have  ever 
seen  or  heard  of;  and  to  offset  this,  they  can  go  an 
unusually  long  time  without  food,  and  still  per- 
form ordinary  labor. 

I  have  known  workmen  in  the  employ  of  the 
mission  to  refuse  their  ration  of  rice — which  is  a 
quart  per  day — and  labor  all  day  without  tasting 
food,  for  the  jpleasure  of  having  lohat  they  call  a 
good  full,  or  tioo  quarts  to  eat  the  next  day  ! 

Boatmen  will  eat  one  and  a  half  quarts  at  one 
meal,  which  is  three  quarts  when  boiled.  It  af- 
fords an  African  no  little  pleasure  to  eat  his  fill. 
An  old  head-man  who  had  ten  wives  laughed  most 
lieartily  at  me  once  on  seeing  me  leave  a  plate  of 
rice,  after  eating  about  one  fourth  of  it.  He  then 
turned  to  the  company,  and  said,  ""White  man  eat 
but  little,  little  (mincing  with  his  mouth  as  he 
spoke);  and  no  wonder  he  can  have  but  one  wife, 
and  must  soon  die  in  black  man's  country;  but 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  21 

black  man  he  can  eat  plenty,  and  full  himself  good 
fashion,  and  then  he  can  be  strong,  and  have 
plenty  wife.     He  no  go  die  soon  like  white  man." 

After  eating  they  generally  wash  their  mouths, 
both  outside  and  in,  and  sometimes  their  whole 
faces,  if  within  the  reach  of  water. 

They  have  no  regular  time  for  bathing,  but 
often  do  it  early  in  the  morning  or  late  at  night. 


22  MISSIONARY    LIFE 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DRESS. 

The  dress  of  the  African  is  little  better  than 
none,  if  we  except  that  worn  by  some  of  the  head- 
men of  towns.  The  aristocracy  and  "big  gentle- 
men pass  everybody  else,"  whose  dress  is  hardly 
passable  for  even  a  warm  country. 

The  Mohammedans  commonly  wear  the  Man- 
dingo  shirt,  which  is  a  loose  gown  with  flowing 
sleeves.  It  makes  not  only  a  decent,  but  a  com- 
fortable covering  for  the  body  in  a  tropical  climate, 
and  is  decidedly  superior  to  the  best  clothes  used 
by  the  other  natives.  With  them,  a  country  cloth 
tied  around  the  waist  often  forms  the  only  article 
of  clothing  worn  by  both  sexes.  Many  of  both 
sexes  have  nothing  on  their  persons  but  a  totran- 
ger,  and  young  females  sometimes  have  nothing 
but  a  girdle  of  beads  fastened  around  the  waist. 
And  worse  than  all,  many  of  the  young  people — 
sometimes  old  ones — are  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity. 

Children   taken    into   the   mission-schools    feel 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  23 

asliamecl  when  clothing  is  put  upon  them,  and  not 
unfrequently  are  they  persecuted  by  their  friends 
for  "  turning  white  people."  "When  any  dress  like 
white  people,  or  adopt  the  customs  and  fashions 
of  the  whites,  others  say,  '■'■they  done  turn  luhite 
man" 

Children  at  the  schools,  if  not  watched,  will 
throw  off  their  clothing;  and  when  alone  they  love 
to  do  this,  and  have  a  good  romp,  then  put  them 
on  again — and  with  them  along,  sober  face, — before 
coming  into  the  presence  of  the  missionary  or 
teacher  again. 

Many  of  them,  young  and  old,  seem  to  have  a 
natural  dislike  to  clothing ;  for  even  head-men  when 
visited  unawares,  are  sometimes  found  naked. 

The  warmth  of  the  climate  accounts  for  this, 
in  part ;  for  certainly  the  biting  frosts  of  Decem- 
ber in  this  country  would  not  only  change  their 
tastes  in  this  particular,  but  would  cause  them  to 
put  forth  efi'ectual  eiforts  to  procure  clothing. 
"Necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention,"  and  a 
father  to  provide. 


24 


MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THEIR   SLEEPING-FIXTURES. 

Nearly  every  African  hut  has  a  rudely-con- 
structed bedstead,  only  wide  enough  for  one  per- 
son to  lie  in,  and  is  made  in  the  following  manner: 
Four  poles  placed  on  end  constitute  the  posts; 
poles  tied  to  them  with  bark  make  the  rails,  and 
other  poles  placed  on  them  support  the  bedding. 
Branches  of  trees,  or  grass,  make  the  mattress,  upon 
which  are  placed  two  country  cloths,  one  for  an 
under  and  the  other  for  the  upper  covering ;  and 
this  makes  the  best  beds  we  saw  among  the  real 
heathen.  In  this  bed  the  man  of  the  house  gener- 
ally sleeps,  while  his  wives,  children,  and  slaves 
sleep  on  the  ground,  with  only  a  grass- mat,  or 
country  cloth,  between  them  and  mother  earth, 
the  covering  being  also  a  country  cloth,  if  there 
be  any  at  all ! 

Some  houses  are  furnished  with  from  one  to 
two  hammocks,  in  which  some  of  the  household 
Bleep,  swinging  above  terra  Jirma. 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  25 

Ordinarily  they  have  fire  in  their  houses  during 
the  night ;  and  those  sleeping  on  the  ground  lie 
with  their  heads  next  to  the  fire.  If  they  have 
covering  at  all,  they  always  cover  the  face,  wrap- 
ping in  the  whole  head  closely,  while  the  legs  and 
feet  turned  from  the  fire  are  naked.  Whether 
awake  or  asleep,  they  prefer  that  the  head  should 
be  hottest;  and  we  have  seen  them  sleeping  in  day- 
time with  their  legs  in  the  shade,  head  in  the  sun, 
and  a  stone  for  a  pillow,  while  a  vertical  sun  was 
pouring  his  rays  down  upon  them  with  the  fierce 
intensity  of  the  tropics.  It  may  be  best  that 
their  sleeping  accommodations  are  no  better ;  for 
as  they  are,  they  sleep  too  much.  An  African  can 
sleep  sixteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  and 
feel  none  the  worse  for  it.  There  are,  however, 
some  exceptions  to  this  rule,  especially  among 
those  who  have  become  civilized, — some  of  whom 
are  wide  awake  sixteen  hours  out  of  twenty-four, 
and  make  it  necessary  for  those  living  among  them 
to  keep  their  eyes  open  and  watch,  as  well  as  pray, 
lest  they  enter  into  temptation  and  sustain  loss. 


26  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LABOR,  FARMINa,  MANUFACTURES,  TRADES. 

They  have  no  regular  business  or  employment ; 
and  especially  is  this  true  of  the  men  ;  for,  as  a 
rule,  they  never  labor  unless  driven  to  it  by  neces- 
sity. There  is,  indeed,  little  inducement  to  labor 
in  the  present  state  of  society.  The  natural  pro- 
ductions of  the  countrj^  arc  so  abundant,  and  the 
wants  of  the  people — in  their  estimation — so  few, 
that  there  is  nothing  to  excite  to  industry  and  en- 
terprise. 

If  they  have  no  clothing  they  go  without.  If 
they  are  without  rice  they  draw  from  nature,  both 
from  water  and  land,  often  subsisting  on  that 
which  is  scarcely  lit  for  animals  to  eat.  If  they 
have  no  shelter  in  which  to  lodge  they  do  with- 
out, as  in  the  case  of  clothing.  The  climate  being 
warm,  and  their  houses  as  a  general  thing  not 
being  proof  against  dampness,  they  suffer  no  great 
inconvenience  to  be  without  them  a  large  part  of 
the  year,  especially  during  the  dry  season. 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  27 

The  country  being  held  in  common  by  the  chiefs, 
who  are  also  head-men  of  towns,  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  property  in  real  estate;  and  if  one 
a  little  more  industrious  than  his  fellows  does 
labor  and  economize  until  he  stores  up  a  quantity 
of  rice,  or  anything  else  in  the  way  of  persona 
property,  head-men  will  extort  from  him,  and 
others  sponge  upon  him,  until  the  fruits  of  his 
labor  are  gone.  If  one  had  it  in  his  heart  to  lay 
up  for  a  time  of  need,  or  for  his  progeny,  he  would 
not  be  able  to  do  so. 

What  farming  they  do  is  very  imperfectly  done, 
and  on  a  small  scale.  Having  no  horses  or  oxen, 
or  animals  of  any  kind,  with  which  to  cultivate 
the  soil,  and  being  entirely  without  farming  uten- 
sils, save  a  rudely-constructed  hoe,  they  can  not 
cultivate  the  soil  to  advantage.  With  the  hoe 
they  loosen  up  the  surface  of  the  ground  a  little, 
and  cultivate  rice,  cassada,  cocoa,  potatoes,  sweet- 
potatoes,  yams,  etc.  Rice  and  cassada  are  the 
staple  commodities  of  agriculture. 

The  women  do  most  of  the  farming,  as  well  as 
every  other  kind  of  work,  with  the  exception  that 
the  men  generally  clear  oft'  the  ground.  This  they 
do  with  the  ax  and  cutlass.  An  African  ax  is 
some  longer,  but  not  much  more  than  half  as 
broad  as  ours.  It  is  a  poor  aftair  to  chop  with. 
But  they  only  chop  oft"  the  trees  and  bush,  and 


28  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

then  let  them  lie  during  one  dry  season,  or  until 
they  become  so  dry  that  they  burn  up  without 
further  trouble,  when  fire  is  put  to  them. 

Their  superficial  method  of  agriculture,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  soon  exhausts  the  soil.  Seldom 
is  the  same  spot  cultivated  more  than  two  or  three 
years  until  it  is  left,  and  before  it  becomes  suffi- 
ciently replenished  to  be  productive  again  it  is 
overgrown  with  bush  and  saplings  of  considerable 
size.  There  being  no  winter,  shrubbery  grows 
rapidly ;  and  it  is  astonishing  to  one  who  has  lived  in 
a  cold  latitude  to  see  the  height  to  which  it  attains 
in  a  single  year.  From  one  to  five  acres  is  as 
much  as  a  family  cultivates  at  the  same  time,  but 
from  two  to  three  crops  may  be  grown  the  same 
year. 

They  also  manufacture  palm-oil,  which  is 
made  from  the  shuck  or  hull  of  the  nut;  and  a 
very  superior  oil  is  made  of  the  kernel  of  the 
palm-nut,  which  is  called  nut-oil.  This  is  quite 
as  good  for  culinary  purposes  as  lard,  and  makes 
a  very  superior  burning-fluid. 

Country  cloths  are  made  by  them  from  cotton, 
which  grows  spontaneously.  Cotton  grows  on 
bushes  about  the  size  of  the  currant-bush,  and 
some  on  what  is  called  the  cotton-tree,  which  is 
the  largest  of  the  forest.  Some  of  these  trees 
measure  ten  feet  and  more  in  diameter  at  their  base. 


IN   WESTERN  AFRICA.  29 

The  maiiiicr  of  spinning  is  somewhat  ingenious 
A  spindle  fastened  to   a   long  stick,   put  in  mo- 
tion with  the  fingers  like  a  top,  makes  the  entire 
spinning  machinery. 

The  thread  thus  made  is  woven  in  strips  of  from 
four  to  six  inches  wide,  and  these  are  sewed  to- 
gether until  the  size  desired  is  obtained.  The 
thread,  though  coarse,  is  tolerably  even,  and  the 
weaving  is  also  passably  good. 

Most  of  these  cloths  are  colored,  and  the  figures 
of  some  arc  very  tastefully  executed.  The  indigo- 
plant  is  a  native  of  the  country  and  is  much  used 
in  colorino;.  These  cloths  make  excellent  bed- 
spreads,  table-spreads,  piano-covers,  etc.,  in  this 
country.  They  also  manufacture  grass-mats  in 
great  abundance,  and  some  of  excellent  quality. 
These  they  make  by  hand  altogether,  as  they  do 
their  country  cloths.  Mats  are  also  made  of  the 
bamboo  branch. 

Blys,  or  baskets,  are  made  from  the  ratan  twig, 
which  is  very  flexible,  and  not  easily  broken,  and 
hence  is  well  adapted  to  that  purpose. 

The  only  trades,  or  approximation  to  trades, 
they  have,  are  canoe-building  and  blacksmithing 
— of  the  latter  only  enough  to  make  iron-fast- 
enings for  canoes,  and  a  few  rude  implements  of 
husbandry  and  of  war.  The  canoe  made  from 
the  tree  is  raised  by  fastening  timbers  on  its  sides, 


30  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

and  then  boarding  up.  In  this  way,  and  by 
spreading  them  a  little,  they  make  them  sufficient- 
ly large  to  bear  from  six  to  ten  tons  burden. 
Their  only  modes  of  transportation  are  by  canoes 
on  the  rivers,  and  by  portage  overland.  Neither 
have  they  any  traveling  facilities,  but  by  canoes 
on  the  water  and  afoot  on  the  land. 

The  reason  I  say  they  have  no  other  trades  but 
the  two  referred  to  above,  is  simply  because  all 
seem  to  understand  how  to  do  whatever  else  is 
done — even  to  house-building — without  serving 
an  apprenticeship. 

I  once  asked  a  conoe-builder  if  the  boy  assisting 
him  at  the  time  was  his  son.  "  No,"  he  replied, 
"  I  only  take  him  to  learn  him  canoe-sense."  He 
meant,  of  course,  the  trade  of  canoe-building. 


IN   AVESTERN    AFRICA.  31 


CHAPTER  X. 

WAR. 

Much  of  the  time  of  the  men  is  still  taken  up  in 
the  prosecution  of  wars.  They  often  engage  in  wars 
as  neighbors  in  this  country  gather  in  their 
harvests  ;  namely,  one  tribe  assists  another.  The 
headman  of  the  town  will  furnish  so  many  men 
for  another  head-man  with  whom  he  is  friendly, 
to  enable  the  latter  to  do  the  work  of  destruction 
upon  an  enemy. 

These  persons  must  be  fed,  durhig  the  time  of 
their  service,  from  the  stores  of  the  tribe  or  head- 
men whom  they  serve.  While  at  Shengay  during 
the  first  three  months  of  the  year  1875,  a  war 
party  came  close  there  several  times,  so  that  the 
people  of  the  town  at  different  times  brought  their 
goods,  and  came  themselves  to  the  mission-house 
for  protection. 

There  was  also  war  on  the  Big  Boom  and 
Bargru  rivers  during  my  stay  in  Africa.  White 
people  should  take  to  themselves  much  blame  for 
this  state  of  things,  as  I  shall  presently  show. 


32  MISSIONARY    LIFE 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AMUSEMENTS. 

There  is  quite  a  variety  of  amusements  among 
them ;  and  no  small  part  of  their  time  is  thus  spent, 
especially  by  the  men  in  time  of  peace.  They 
practice  various  dances.  One  is  called  the 
"  country  dance,"  another  the  "  devil's  dance." 
By  the  way,  would  not  the  latter  he  an  appro- 
priate name  for  most  all  dancing,  as  it  is  now 
practiced,  both  in  enlightened  and  in  heathen 
countries  ?  They  have  their  country  drums  and 
fiddles, — and  strange-looking  things  they  are, — to 
make  music  on  such  occasions.  As  in  America, 
the  whole  night  is  sometimes  spent  in  dancing, 
and  both  sexes  participate  in  the  amusement. 

Playing  the  walle  is  a  more  common  amusement, 
especially  among  head-men,  and  others  of  note. 
Walle  is  often  phiycd  for  gain,  but  whether  it  is 
a  game  of  chance,  or  purely  of  sleight,  I  was  not 
able  to  discover. 

This  much  I  know,  that  bits  of  tobacco  about 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  33 

the  size  of  a  man's  hand  (the  tobacco  in  that 
country  is  used  in  the  leaf  as  it  grows),  or  a  few 
needles  or  spoons,  or  whatever  else  may  be  on 
hand  as  an  article  of  commerce,^  is  staked  and 
played  for.  When  they  have  nothing  to  stake 
they  play  for  amusement  only. 

"Walles  are  public  property,  sometimes  furnished 
at  the  expense  of  the  town,  each  town  having  one 
or  more  of  them.  Ordinarily  they  are  kept  in  the 
palaver-house,  where  there  are  also  hammocks 
swung  to  accommodate  loungers. 

Between  playing  the  walle,  and  sleeping  in  the 
hammocks,  head-men  while  away  their  leisure 
hours,  while  their  wives  are  close  by  in  groups, 
making  mats,  spinning  cotton,  preparing  the  meal, 
or  else  in  the  field  planting  and  looking  after  the 
the  crops,  which  are  mostly  cassada  and  rice. 

Women  do  all  the  drudgery  and  hard  work  in 
Africa,  and  many  of  them  are  compelled  to  labor 
hard  to  procure  a  livelihood  for  themselves, 
children,  and  husbands.  With  an  infant  lashed 
fast  to  her  back,  the  mother  may  be  seen  in  the 
iield  hoeing,  pulling  weeds,  gathering  in  the  crop 
of  rice,  carrying  fire-wood  from  the  forest,  or  in  the 
river  Avashing  clothes.  Of  the  latter  they  have 
little  to  do,  however.  The  way  of  washing  is 
worthy  of  notice.  This  they  do  by  going  into  the 
water's  edge,  dipping  the  clothes  into  the  water, 

3 


34  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

and  then  beating  them  upon  a  rock,  or  log,  which 
is  placed  there  for  the  purpose. 

Our  hearts  sadden  when  we  contemplate  the 
condition  of  the  heathen  female.  JSTo  sight  was 
more  revolting  to  my  feelings  in  that  country, 
than  to  see  an  infant  tied  fast  to  the  back  of  its 
mother,  swinging  back  and  forth,  with  a  vertical 
sun  darting  hia  rays  full  in  its  face,  without 
even  the  covering  of  a  bonnet  or  anything  of 
the  kind  to  shield  it  from  the  heat,  while  the 
mother,  with  every  stroke  of  her  hoe,  or  the  cloth 
she  was  throwing  upon  the  rock  to  beat  the  dirt 
out  of  it,  added  pain  to  her  child. 


IN    WEi?TEIlN    AFRICA.  35 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THEIR   PHYSICAL    STRUCTURE. 

The  physiognomical  and  physiological  structure 
of  the  people  with  whom  I  became  acquainted  in 
Africa  is  better  than  that  of  the  colored  race  in 
this  country.  Especially  is  this  true  of  their 
physiognomy.  The  flat  nose  and  thick  lip  are  not 
80  common  as  among  that  race  of  people  in  this 
country ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  prominent 
forehead,  the  expressive  eye,  and  the  intelligent 
countenance  are  as  frequently  seen  as  in  any 
country  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  visit. 

They  have  well-developed  chests,  and  the  most 
erect  carriage  of  any  people  of  my  knowledge. 
This  is  especially  to  be  remarked  of  the  Moham- 
medans, of  whom  it  may  be  said  with  emphasis 
that  their  dignified  and  independent  walk,  and  their 
lordly  appearance  in  whatever  position  they  may 
occupy,  with  a  self-righteousness  and  self-esteem 
as  prominent  as  their  depravity  is  deep,  make 
them  to  fill  up  the  character  of  a  Pharisee,  as 
described  by  the  Savior  in  the  Kew  Testament. 


36  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

They  are  decidedly  a  superior  race  of  people, — 
much  more  intelligent  and  enterprising  than  the 
heathen  proper,  though  no  less  sunken  in  vice. 
We  shall  say  more  of  them  in  another  part  of  this 
work. 

It  is  true  that  the  general  appearance  of  the 
most  stupid  Africans  indicates  susceptibility  of 
mental  culture  ;  and  from  actual  experiment,  by 
different  missionaries,  the  evidence  is  conclusive  on 
this  point.  Their  children  between  the  ages  of 
five  and  fifteen  years  are,  all  things  considered, 
quite  as  susceptible  of  intellectual  improve- 
ment as  are  the  white  children  of  this  country. 
In  the  study  of  those  branches  of  science  re- 
quiring the  exercise  of  memory,  mainly,  such  as 
geography  and  history,  they  fully  compete  with 
American  children ;  but  in  the  study  of  those 
branches  of  science  which  require  the  exercise  of 
the  reasoning  faculties,  they  are  inferior  to  the 
children  of  this  country. 

It  requires  no  supernatural  ken,  however,  to 
discover  the  reason  for  this.  Rather  should  we 
wonder  that  these  people  have  powers  of  intellect 
at  all,  after  suffering  as  the}'  have  for  centu- 
ries the  blasting  and  deteriorating  influences  of 
heathenism,  and  the  tyrannical  and  hellish  treat- 
ment they  have  received  from  slave-traders,  and 
others  who  have  gone    among    them,  and    are 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  37 

among  tliem  now,  for  worldy  gain  alone.  Surely, 
on  African  soil,  "  man's  inhumanity  to  man  "  has 
caused  not  only  millions  to  mourn,  but  very  many 
to  sink  to  depths  in  the  pool  of  moral  pollution  to 
which  they  never  would  have  gone  had  they  been 
left  to  themselves. 

It  is  but  proper  to  state  also,  in  this  connection, 
that  their  skill  in  chirography  is  equalled  by  few, 
and  not  surpassed  by  any.  They  are  naturally 
great  imitators  in  whatever  direction  they  choose 
to  exercise  their  faculties.  They  are  remarkably 
skillful  with  the  pen. 


38  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DISPOSITIONS — TASTE   FOR  MUSIC. 

I  do  not  think  the  Africans  are  naturally  ill- 
natured  ;  but  on  the  contrary,  they  are  remarkable 
for  their  good  nature  and  pleasant  manners  to 
strangers.  Indeed,  one  great  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  their  Christianization  is  the  fact  that  they  are 
not  sufficiently  excitable.  I  hope  I  am  not  mis- 
understood. 

They  are  fond  of  every  kind  of  music,  and  sing 
a  great  deal,  whether  at  work  or  play.  When 
rowing  me  along  the  river  and  plying  their  oars 
with  all  their  strength,  they  would  sing  at  least 
half  of  the  time,  unless  they  had  a  particular  cause 
for  not  doing  so. 

"When  our  boatmen  or  workmen  omitted  sing- 
ing, we  took  it  for  granted  that  they  were  vexed 
or  sick.  There  as  here,  people  seldom  sing  when 
in  a  bad  humor.  The  common  way  with  boat- 
men is  for  one  to  lead  the  singing,  making  the 
music  as  he  proceeds,  all  but  the  chorus,  in  which 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  39 

all  the  party  join,  making  perfect  harmony — of 
their  kind ;  and  tossing  their  heads  triumphantly, 
with  mouths  wide  open,  the  contrast  between 
the  color  of  their  skin  and  teeth  challenges  the 
attention  of  the  most  indifferent. 

The  principal  part  of  the  music  is  sung  alter- 
nately with  the  chorus;  and  when  all  join  in  the 
chorus  a  new  impetus  is  given  to  the  canoe.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  they  have  musical 
voices,  strong  lungs,  and  that  they  have  not  yet 
learned  to  primp  their  mouths  and  mew — like  many 
of  the  people  of  this  country,  especially  America's 
last  edition, — when  they  sing. 

As  might  be  expected,  they  are  vain  and  fond 
of  praise.  A  little  praise  elates  them  much ;  and 
if  the  praiser  should  ever  after  reprove,  he  is  at 
once  reminded  of  his  former  flattering  opinion. 


40  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DECEPTIONS. 

There  is  no  end  to  their  deceptions  on  foreign- 
ers ;  and  often  their  pretenses  have  so  much  show 
of  reality  that  the  most  discriminating  are  shame- 
fully humbugged.  Sometimes  their  plans  are  laid 
far  ahead,  and  with  so  much  skill,  tact,  and  cun- 
ning that  one  must  be  wide  awake  to  keep  out 
of  their  meshes.  When  they  set  themselves  for 
guileful  ends  they  never  draw  back  until  they  suc- 
ceed, unless  absolutely  compelled  to  do  so. 

They  cheat  in  the  sale  of  nearly  every  article 
they  sell  to  white  persons,  if  not  closely  watched ; 
and  the  only  restraint  they  seem  to  feel  in  the 
matter  arises  from  the  fear  of  detection  and  pun- 
ishment. 

An  old  sea-captain,  who  had  been  spending  his 
winters  on  the  south  and  west  coasts  of  Africa 
for  many  years,  told  me  he  had  known  them  to 
manufacture  a  mixture  of  clay,  water,  and  oil 
which  much  resembled  the  palm-oil,  and  sell  fo^ 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  41 

the  jpure  oil  that  which  was  three-fourth  parts  clay 
and  water.  He  has  also  known  them,  with  true 
Yankee  ingenuity,  to  hollow  out  balls  of  bees-wax 
and  fill  the  vacuum  with  sand,  closing  the  sand  in 
80  neatly  as  to  avoid  detection. 

They  also  take  the  juice  of  camwood  and  stain 
other  wood  with  it,  making  such  a  perfect  imitation 
that  no  one  suspects  the  deception.  They  have 
been  known  too  to  manufacture  an  ingenious  im- 
itation of  ivory,  and  sell  it  to  traders  for  the  pure 
article.  They  adulterate  gold,  and  palm  off  the 
spurious  article  upon  the  trader. 

I  have  been  too  often  defeated  while  they  were 
in  my  employ  as  oarsmen  to  believe  anything  else 
than  that  they  possess,  naturally,  as  much 
mind  as  their  paler  brethren.  It  is  their  custom 
to  stop  at  almost  every  village  and  town  on  the 
river  when  they  travel  with  canoes;  and  in  order 
to  make  better  speed,  I  would,  by  stratagem  and 
the  exercise  of  dictatorial  power,  do  my  utmost  to 
prevent  this.     Often  my  attempts  were  vain. 

If  persuasion,  or  the  promise  to  pull  the  harder 
to  make  up  the  loss  of  time,  or  some  other  plea, 
would  not  induce  me  to  let  them  stop,  before  I  got 
to  the  next  town  the  fire  would  be  out,  or  the 
spile  out  of  the  water-cask,  or  something  else 
would  occur  that  made  it  absolutely  necessary  to 
land.     Never  shall   I  forget  the  fattening   laugh 


42  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

which  my  men  took  over  my  defeat,  as  they  pull- 
ed up  the  canoe  to  a  certain  town  to  get  water. 
Only  two  hours  before  we  had  at  least  ten  gallons, 
but  in  the  nick  of  time  all  was  gone.  The  oars- 
man sitting  next  to  me,  and  not  over  four  feet 
from  me,  managed  to  ply  his  toes  on  the  spile  of 
the  water-cask  while  handling  the  oar,  and  thus 
let  the  water  out. 

Let  those  who  deny  them  a  rational  soul,  and 
go  so  far  as  to  call  them  brainless  resemblances  of 
the  human  species,  tell  us  why  other  animals  do 
not  exhibit  such  skill  and  forethought  in  carrying 
out  their  purposes.  They  exercise  so  much  in- 
genuity, calculation,  and  reason  in  all  they  under- 
take,— mainly  for  wicked  ends,  I  admit, — that  no 
unprejudiced  and  sincere  mind  can  doubt  their 
rationality. 

They  have  the  elements  in  their  nature  to  make 
them  an  inventive,  enterprising,  and  prosperous 
people;  but,  as  in  the  uncultivated  field,  weeds 
only  are  produced.  !N"ot  until  the  plow  of  gospel 
truth  destroys  the  weeds  of  sin  and  prepares  the 
soil  for  the  reception  of  the  seed  of  God's  word 
can  we  hope  for  a  bountiful  crop  of  souls,  purified 
and  saved. 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  43 


CHAPTER  XV. 

EVANGELIZATION — ITS   DIFFICULTIES. 

The  greatest  discouragement  the  missiouary  has 
to  contend  with  in  laboring  among  that  people,  is 
the  fact  that  he  can  not  give  them  a  clear  appre- 
hension of  spiritual  truth  when  first  going  among 
them,  or  when  commencing  at  a  new  point. 

For  want  of  a  proper  medium  by  which  to  con- 
vey ideas,  he  fails,  to  a  great  extent,  to  place  the 
truths  of  salvation  before  them  in  an  intelligent 
form.  To  get  figures  which  they  understand  by 
which  to  illustrate  gospel  truth,  and  bring  it  to 
bear  upon  their  hearts  and  consciences,  so  as  to 
produce  conviction  of  sin,  and  a  desire  to  be  freed 
from  it,  is  difiicult. 

Their  habits  of  life  and  modes  of  thinking  differ 
so  widely  from  ours  that  the  most  simple  and 
easily  understood  illustrations  used  by  us  are  mis- 
understood, or  fail  to  convey  any  meaning  at  all. 
After  making  the  truth  as  simple  and  plain  as  it 
can  be   made,   by  the   use  of   the   most  simple 


44  MIPPIONARY    LIFE 

language,  we  yet  fail  to  give  them  clear  concep- 
tions of  it. 

It  is  highly  important  that  the  missionary  learn 
their  language,  become  familiar  with  their  usages, 
manner  of  life,  views  of  propriety,  and  their  secret 
abominations,  in  order  that  he  may  labor  among 
them  successfully. 

On  a  certain  occasion  I  preached  from  the  para- 
ble of  the  vine  and  branches,  in  the  15th  chapter 
of  the  Gospel  according  to  John.  I  showed  that 
as  the  branches  are  in  the  vine  so  we  must  be  in 
Christ ;  that  the  Christian  is  as  dependent  upon 
Christ  for  spiritual  life  as  the  branches  are  on  the 
vine,  and  as  intimately  related  to  him  as  the 
branch  is  to  the  vine.  I  endeavored  to  explain 
how  we  might  become  branches  of  the  "  true 
vine,"  and  thus  be  saved  from  sin  and  hell. 

Though  I  was  as  plain  as  I  could  be,  yet  the 
whole  sermon  was  lost,  because,  as  I  afterward 
learned,  none  of  my  hearers — not  even  my  inter- 
preter— knew  what  the  word  "  in'?ie"  meant !  They 
call  vines  "  country  ropes."  I  refer  to  this  to  give 
the  reader  an  idea  of  the  difficulty  of  preaching 
intelligently  to  that  people  without  a  knowledge 
of  their  language. 

But  that  which  should  be  done  can  be  done; 
and  if  we  resolve  in  God's  name  that  what  should 
and  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  evangelizing  the 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  45 

iuLabitaiits  of  Africa  shall  be  done,  it  will  not 
be  long  until  that  people  will  have  the  gospel 
preached  to  them  iinderstandingly. 

All,  it  is  presumed,  will  agree  with  me  that  they 
should  have  a  pure  gospel  preached  to  them  ;  and 
if  the  adage  referred  to  be  truthful,  it  can  be  done. 
It  only  remains  for  Christians  to  say  when  it  shall 
be  accomplished.  God  has  declared  by  revelation 
that  it  SHALL  be  done.  (Matt.  xxiv.  14.)  Will 
we  act  our  part  in  the  accomplishment  of  this 
great  and  glorious  work,  and  thus  be  co-workers 
with  him  in  winning  this  world  back  to  Christ? 


46  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LANGUAGES. 

The  languages  and  dialects  of  the  people  are 
very  defective  in  words,  and  especially  in  words 
by  wbicli  to  express  abstract  ideas.  Hence 
tbey  fail  to  give  definite  ideas  of  quantity,  quality, 
time,  distance,  number,  and  so  on;  and  in  the 
absence  of  any  written  language,  or  standard  of 
language,  a  mongrel  speech  of  English,  French, 
and  Spanish,  with  various  native  dialects,  has  ob- 
tained, which  is  better  calculated  to  excite  laughter, 
often,  than  to  communicate  thought.  To  give  a 
description  of  quantity  they  say,  "  not  much,"  or 
"little  much,"  or  "plenty  much,"  and  of  quality, 
they  say,  "good  a  little,"  or  "good  too  much;"  of 
distance,  "not  far,"  "far  a  little,"  or  "far  too 
"much;"  and  by  the  way  of  the  river  they  say,  "so 
many  points," — meaning  the  bends  in  the  river, — 
and  the  traveler  is  left  to  find  out  as  he  goes  along 
whether  these  bends  are  the  fourth  of  a  mile,  or 
four  miles  apart. 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  47 

Sometimes  in  giving  the  distance  from  one  place 
to  another,  they  say,  "  if  you  start  when  sun  comes 
up,  you  catch  when  he  stand  so,"  pointing  to  the 
sky  where  they  suppose  the  sun  will  be  when  the 
traveler  arrives  at  the  place,  if  the  journey  be 
made  in  the  common  time.  These  examples  fur- 
nish a  pretty  fair  illustration  of  how  clearly  and 
definitely  they  express  ideas,  as  a  general  thing ; 
but  some  of  their  forms  of  speech  are  remarkable 
for  their  pertinence  and  significance. 

If  they  wish  to  tell  you  that  a  person  is  igno- 
rant,— for  in  that  country,  as  here,  they  have  their 
higher  and  lower  classes,  their  aristocracy  and 
common  people, — they  say,  "  no  light  broke  upon 
him  yet."  If  they  wish  to  tell  you  that  a  judg- 
ment has  been  sent  upon  a  town,  they  say  that 
town — telling  where  the  place  is — "catch  one  God 
flog."  Though  these  forms  of  speech  are  awk- 
ward, yet  who  can  more  clearly  convey  the  ideas 
with  the  same  number  of  words  ? 

The  English  will  doubtless  eventually  be  the 
prevailing  language  among  the  tribes  on  the  west 
coast. 


48  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MARKING   TIME,  COUNTING,    ETC. 

Their  onl}''  way  of  marking  time  is,  by  the 
moon  and  the  seasons  of  the  year.  To  tell  how 
long  since  an  event  transpired,  they  say,  "  so  many 
moons,"  or  "  so  many  rainy  seasons,"  have  elaps- 
ed. They  know  of  no  division  of  time  into  weeks, 
hours,  and  miuntes.  They  have  no  knowledge  of 
a  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest.  If  the  theory  of  some, 
liowever,  be  correct,  namely,  that  we  do  not  re- 
quire the  seventh  part  of  our  time  in  which  to  rest, 
unless  we  work  too  hard  the  six  days  appointed 
by  God  in  which  to  labor,  they  do  not  need  a 
Sabbath.     But  away  with  such  infidelity. 

One  day  as  I  visited  a  town  some  ten  miles  dis- 
tant from  Good  Hope  Station  I  was  forcibly  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  the  influence  of  that 
mission  was  being  felt  in  establishing  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  holy  Sabbath  even  there.  The  head- 
man of  the  town  remarked  that  he  was  going  to 
bring  iis  cocoa-nuts  to  sell  to-morrow ;  but  turn- 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  49 

ing  and  looking  upon  the  wall  of  his  hut  just 
after  saying  this,  he  continued,  "No,  not  to-mor- 
row, for  that  is  Sunday-day,  and  mission  no  trade 
on  that  day." 

Upon  casting  my  eyes  around  I  saw  a  flat  piece  i 
of  wood  with  seven  holes  in  it,  hanging  on  the 
wall,  and  a  peg  in  the  lowest.  The  topmost  hole 
in  his  almanac  was  Sunday,  and  by  moving  the  peg 
every  day  he  knew  when  it  came.  Whether  he 
had  ever  been  at  the  mission-station  I  do  not 
know,  but  from  some  source  he  had  learned  that 
missionaries  kept  one  day  out  of  seven  sacred, 
and  that  it  would  be  useless  to  bring  cocoa-nuts 
to  sell  on  that  day. 

Many  of  the  Sherbro  people  can  count  no  high- 
er than  ten,  and  can  not  do  that  without  splicing 
words  together,  thus:  "Bull— one.  Ting — two, 
Errah — three,  Heall — four,  Maan — Ave."  Then 
they  take  one  and  put  it  to  five  to  make  six,  thus : 
"  Maan-bull— six,  Maan-ting — seven,  Maan-errah 
—  eight,  Maan-heall  —  nine,  and  Wang  —  ten." 
Here  the  counting  process  stops  with  many  of  the 
Sherbros  ;  but  the  Mendi  and  Timiny  tribes  can 
count  higher,  even  to  hundreds. 

They  are  assisted  very  much  in  communicating 
ideas  by  the  great  variety  of  gestures  which  they 
use  in  conversation.  Their  gestures  are  very  ap- 
propriate  and  significant,  and  by  no  means  con-  '' 

4 


60  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

fined  to  tlie  use  6f  the  liands  alone.  "When  an 
African  talks  he  talks  all  over — with  head,  eyes, 
face,  arms,  and  legs.  They  use  their  feet  and  legs 
as  freely,  when  necessary,  as  any  other  memher 
of  the  body.  I  have  seen  them  stoop  forward 
with  the  face  half  way  to  the  ground,  then  again 
bend  back  as  far  as  they  could,  and  throw  their 
bodies  from  side  to  side,  to  assist  in  the  utterance 
of  their  thoughts. 

They  are  also  assisted  in  this  by  the  use  of  nu- 
merous EMBLEMS,  PARABLES,  SYMBOLS,  IMAGES,  ETC. 
These  assist  them  much  in  showing  the  relation 
of  one  thing  to  another,  and  the  estimate  they  put 
upon  things  and  persons. 

For  instance,  if  a  head-man  wishes  to  make  an 
expression  of  good-will  and  friendship  to  another 
head-man,  he  simply  sends  him  a  piece  of  white 
cloth.  If  a  bride  wishes  to  let  everybody  know 
that  she  is  married,  she  ties  a  white  string  around 
her  forehead.  If  a  man  wishes  to  farm  a  piece  of 
land  which  is  yet  in  timber,  he  puts  on  its  bound- 
aries sticks  with  leaves  tied  to  their  tops.  If  a 
head-man  wishes  to  announce  that  persons  will  be 
punished  for  throwing  water  where  he  does  not 
wish  it  in  his  town,  he  puts  up  a  stake  in  the 
place  with  a  bunch  of  switches  tied  to  its  top. 

"While  I  was  at  Good  Hope  Station,  Mr.  Brooks 
received  from  a  head-man,  whom  he  had  once  vis- 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  61 

ited,  a  present  of  a  goat,  a  piece  of  soap,  and  six 
country  cloths.  The  goat,  soap,  and  each  one  of 
the  cloths  were  emblematical  of  some  specific 
thing,  which  the  messenger  who  brought  them  ex- 
plained to  Mr.  B.  at  the  time.  A  great  variety  of 
things  are  thus  represented,  and  this  assists  them 
not  a  little  to  make  plain  what  their  defective 
language  alone  would  fail  to  do. 


52  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

.      ETIQUETTE. 

A  good  deal  of  etiquette  is  observed  among 
tliem,  whicli,  as  might  be  supposed,  is  modeled 
after  their  own  peculiar  ideas.  On  special  occa- 
sions, in  particular  places,  and  toward  particular 
persons,  certain  ceremonies  must  always  be  observ- 
ed. 

For  instance,  to  go  into  a  town  and  not  call  up- 
on the  head-man  of  the  place  immediately,  is  treat- 
ing him  impolitely.  The  proper  way  is  to  call  up- 
on the  head-man  at  once,  and  tell  him  whence  you 
are  and  whither  you  are  bound,  and  whether  you 
are  going  to  proceed  immediately  on  the  journey, 
or  stay  with  him  to  "to  cook,"  or  for  the  night. 

If  a  night's  lodging  is  wanted,  the  stranger 
must  "shake  the  king's  hand;"  that  is,  make  him 
a  present  to  the  value  of  the  things  and  privileges 
required.  In  this  case  a  house  is  furnished  for  the 
exclusive  accommodation  of  the  traveler  and  his 
men,  and  will  not  be  used  by  any  others  during  his 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  53 

stay  in  town.  If  a  person  stays  more  than  one 
night,  it  is  expected  that  he  call  upon  the  head- 
man of  the  town  each  morning,  and  say  "How 
you  do"  to  him.  On  leaving  the  place  the  travel- 
er must  pay  his  parting  respects  to  his  landlord. 
By  observing  these  customs,  head-men  feel  re- 
sponsible for  the  safety  of  the  traveler  and  his 
goods  to  some  extent,  and  will  often  befriend  him. 

To  refuse  a  present,  no  difference  of  how  little 
value,  is  treating  the  one  offering  it  impolitely, 
and  is  considered  sufficient  ground  for  palaver. 
Persons  of  note  treat  head-men  impolitely  if 
they  pass  their  towns  without  stopping  and 
paying  them  their  respects.  It  is  regarded  as  a 
token  of  respect  to  call  on  persons  at  any  time,  to 
say  "How  do  you  do"  to  them. 

We  were  much  amused  one  Sabbath  morning, 
just  at  the  hour  of  worship,  and  while  we  were 
reading  the  Scriptures,  to  see  one  of  the  workmen 
in  the  employ  of  the  mission  come  to  the  door 
and  beckon  with  his  hand  to  a  brother  missionary 
who  had  charge  of  that  station,  and  who  was 
seated  on  the  other  side  of  the  room,  to  come  to 
him.  He  went  to  the  door,  and  asked  him  what 
he  wanted.  He  replied :  "  Oh,  me  only  come  for 
say  how  do  you  do ;  no  more." 

Their  meeting  and  parting  salutations  are 
strictly  observed.     I   was  taken  to  task  several 


54  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

times  by  head-men  for  leaving  them  without  ob- 
serving the  Ippeoway  and  Mogmdawa — parting 
salutation.  "When  very  great  friends  meet  they 
rub  each  other's  arms  with  the  hand  several  times, 
and  afterward  shake  hands  a  long  time. 

There  is  quite  as  much  etiquette  among  them  as 
there  is  among  us,  but  it  is  of  a  different  kind; 
and  by  the  observance  of  their  rules,  so  far  as  it 
can  be  done  in  conscience,  one  may  get  along  with 
and  among  them  very  well.  They  are  not  a 
dangerous  people  to  dwell  among  if  proper  care  be 
taken. 

They  will  beg  and  cheat  one  out  of  all  he  has 
if  they  can,  and  if  a  good  opportunity  serves  for 
escape  they  will  steal  his  goods ;  but  there  is  no 
danger  of  being  robbed,  or  injured  in  person,  if 
proper  precaution  be  taken.  Some  of  them  are 
strictly  honest, however;  but  this  is  the  exception, 
and  not  the  rule. 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  55 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ANCIENT   CUSTOMS. 

They  observe  many  ancient  customs.  For  ex- 
ample: They  take  the  finest  flour,  best  rice, 
purest  oil,  and  the  best  of  whatever  they  use  as 
food  themselves,  prepare  them  in  the  best  style, 
and  ofl'er  them  in  sacrifice  to  their  deities.  Those 
familiar  with  the  Old  Testament  know  that  the 
Jews  were  required  to  take  the  best  of  their 
flocks  and  sacrifice  to  the  Lord.  Some  of  them 
also  wear  sandals,  as  the  people  did  anciently. 

They  sometimes  wash  the  feet  of  strangers 
coming  to  them,  which  is  also  an  ancient  custom. 
If  the  traveler  be  a  common  person,  the  head- 
man's slaves  or  wives  wash  his  feet;  but  if  he  be 
a  man  of  note,  the  head-man  washes  them  him- 
self, to  show  the  respect  in  which  he  holds  him. 
Wasliing  feet  is  a  custom  founded  upon  a  phys- 
ical necessity  in  warm  countries,  as  much  as  wear- 
ing clothes  is  in  cold  countries ;  and  when  spoken 
of  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  religious  act,  it  means 


56  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

nothing  more  than  administering  to  others'  wants, 
and  is  a  duty  similar  to  that  of  clothing  the  naked 
or  feeding  the  hungry. 

In  warm,  dusty  countries,  where  the  people  sel- 
dom have  clothes  upon  the  legs  helow  the  knees, 
and  at  best  nothing  but  sandals  on  their  feet, 
washing  the  feet  often,  and  especially  after  travel- 
ing, is  conducive  to  both  health  and  comfort. 
Washing  feet  in  cold  water  also  quenches  thirst, 
and  washing  the  whole  body  does  it  more  effect- 
ually. I  tested  this  several  times  when  unable  to 
quench  my  thirst  by  drinking  alone. 

Their  method  of  expressing  grief  and  sorrow  is 
ancient.  When  in  great  grief,  or  trouble,  they 
put  on  the  coarsest  clothes  they  have,  throw  ashes 
and  dirt  upon  themselves,  dishevel  their  hair,  and 
smite  upon  their  breasts.  When  mourning  for 
the  dead  with  their  mourning  habiliments  upon 
them,  and  their  hair  on  end,  wringing  their  hands 
and  smiting  upon  their  breasts,  they  look  like  a 
bundle  of  misery  most  ungracefully  put  together 
— whether  so  in  heart,  does  not  always  appear 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  57 


CHAPTER  XX. 

LAWS,   GOVERNMENT. 

It  may  be  said  that  they  have  laws.  They  have 
no  written  laws,  however,  but  rules  and  regula- 
tions, handed  down  by  tradition  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another. 

There  are,  first,  what  may  be  termed  general 
laws,  which  extend  to  people  of  different  towns. 
The  chiefs  and  head-men  of  a  certain  region  of 
country  embracing  a  number  of  towns  meet  to- 
gether and  agree  upon  a  code  of  laws  by  which 
to  regulate  the  people  in  their  intercourse  with 
each  other,  especially  for  purposes  of  trade  and 
commerce.  All  the  people  of  the  district  rep- 
resented are  required  to  keep  these  laws;  and 
if  the  head-man  or  the  people  of  any  town 
violate  them,  those  of  the  other  towns  have  just 
cause  for  palaver  w^ith  the  offending  party ;  and  as 
a  general  thing  they  require  so  much  produce,  or 
goods,  as  an  indemnity,  "  to  cool  their  hearts,"  as 
they  say. 


58  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

If  tlie  offending  town  refuses  to  pay,  or  to  make 
satisfaction  to  the  others,  they  make  war  upon  it, 
and  if  victorious,  sell  the  prisoners  for  slaves. 
The  most  trifling  breach  of  law  is  sometimes 
made  a  cause  for  war  upon  a  weak  town  for  the 
sake  of  the  profits  accruing  from  the  sale  of  the 
prisoners.  The  Africans,  like  enlightened  people, 
prefer  to  make  war  upon  the  weak. 

Head-men  also  enact  such  laws  as  they  think 
necessary  for  the  government  of  their  own  people. 
These  they  repeal  or  alter  as  circumstances  seem 
to  require,  or  so  as  to  bring  the  greatest  revenue 
into  their  own  coffers.  Many  of  their  laws  bear 
the  impress  of  injustice  and  cruelty,  and  are  made 
with  a  view  of  extorting  money,  or  its  equivalent, 
from  the  common  people. 

At  Mo-Colong,  when  war  was  in  progress  there 
a  few  years  since,  a  law  was  passed  that  no  one 
should  carry  a  whole  bunch  of  bananas  or  plan- 
tains into  the  town  at  once.  If  any  attempted  to 
do  so,  others  had  a  right  to  take  all  from  the  own- 
er and  divide  it  among  themselves.  The  scarcity 
of  provisions  was  the  alleged  reason  for  the  pas- 
sage of  such  a  law. 

There  is  also  what  might  be  called  the  higher 
or  supreme  law,  which  is  made  by  a  secret  society 
called  Purrow,  or  Devil-Bush  Society.  Laws 
made  by  this   society,  coming  in   collision  with 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  59 

the  common  law  of  the  town,  have  the  pre- 
eminence. We  shall  give  a  separate  chapter  on 
the  doings  of  the  Purrow-bush  society. 

From  the  above  the  reader  may  infer  the  form 
of  government  that  exists.  It  is  not  a  monarchy, 
but  an  approximation  to  that  form  of  government. 
Not  unfrequently  is  the  country  given  up  to  an- 
archy and  confusion,  and  is  kept  in  that  condition, 
much  of  the  time,  by  those  pretended  rulers  whose 
only  aim  is  to  get  possession  of  the  earnings  of 
the  people,  and  waste  them  upon  their  own  lusts. 


60  MISSIONARY   LIi« 


CHAPTER  XXI 

OATHS,   CURRENCY. 

They  have  a  method  of  administering  oaths,  by 
which  to  secure  a  statement  of  facts  from  those 
giving  testimony.  Upon  this  point,  however,  I 
can  not  give  much  definite  information. 

I  was  told  by  a  native  of  that  country  that  some 
tribes  swore  upon  salt,  and  others  upon  snuff.  So 
far  as  I  was  able  to  learn,  each  tribe  swears  by 
what  it  considers  the  most  sacred  thing;  and  or- 
dinarily they  have  a  great  regard  for  their  oaths. 

Every  article  of  exchange  in  that  country 
is  called  money,  and  besides  this  they  have 
no  currency  at  all.  The  best  currency  there 
are  rum  and  tobacco ;  and  next  to  these  may  be 
named  prints,  cotton  goods,  fish-hooks,  iron 
spoons,  small  mirrors,  needles,  and  iron  pots.  The 
English  make  a  goods  called  blue  baft,  which  is  in 
great  demand.  Hoes,  axes,  and  such  things  as 
they  can  use,  may  also  be  exchanged  for  their 
produce,  at  a  good  profit.    Owing  to  the  fact  that 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  61 

tlicy  have  no  standard  of  money,  articles  of  ex- 
change often  have  no  regular  price  or  value  at- 
tached to  them.  This  gives  traders  a  great  chance 
for  extortion,  which  they  not  unfrequently  im- 
prove, to  the  injury  of  the  poor,  ignorant  people 
among  whom  they  transact  business. 

The  influence  of  this  class  of  men  from  civilized 
countries  is,  as  a  rule,  most  detrimental  to  the 
work  of  missions.  They  are  generally  wicked 
themselves;  and  then  they  deal  largely  in  rum 
and  tobacco,  and  other  hurtful  things.  Rum  in 
Africa,  as  in  other  countries,  leads  to  almost  all 
manner  of  crime.  But  more  of  this  in  another 
part  of  this  work. 


62  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

MATRIMONY,   ABUSE   OF   WOMEN. 

I  iK)w  come  to  speak  of  a  subject  which,  though 
not  pleasant,  goes  far  to  show  the  deep  degrada- 
tion of  that  people.  I  mean  their  customs  regu- 
lating the  marriage  relation,  and  the  conduct  of 
the  men  toward  the  women. 

Every  man  almost  has  his  wife,  or  wives,  and 
ordinarily  each  has  as  many  as  he  can  aftbrd  to 
buy.  Wives  are  bought  there  as  animals  are  in 
this  country.  Usually  they  are  not  consulted  in 
the  choice  of  their  husbands  at  all,  but  are  com- 
pelled to  be  the  partners  of  whoever  happens  to 
furnish  their  parents  the  amount  of  goods  asked 
for  them. 

Wives  are  often  not  allowed  to  eat  with  their 
husbands,  nor  walk  by  their  sides,  but  must  walk 
behind  them  to  show  that  they  are  in  subjection. 
They  are  also  often  severely  flogged  by  them,  for, 
in  their  own  language,  "  they  no  be  good  wife  till 
she  get  one  flog."     I  often  saw  the  cruel  welts  of 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  63 

the  flogging  process  on  the  backs  of  women ;  and 
one  woman  came  to  Good  Hope  to  seek  protection 
from  her  cruel  husband.  She  had  been  tied  to  the 
ground,  in  which  position  her  tongue  was  drawn 
out  of  her  mouth  and  burned  with  a  red-hot  iron  ! 

Though  women  are  called  wives,  they  are  in 
reality  slaves,  having  no  lights,  and  only  such 
'privileges  as  hard-hearted,  superstitious,  ignorant 
heathen  husbands  are  disposed  to  give  them.  And 
it  matters  not  how  cruelly  they  may  be  treated,  it 
is  seldom  that  their  wrongs  are  redressed ;  because 
there  is  no  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  their 
husbands  except  in  rare  and  extraordinary  cases, 
when  head-men  are  induced  to  put  bounds  to  the 
wrongs  imposed  upon  them  by  their  tyrannical 
masters. 

As  a  general  thing  the  wife  must  raise  the 
husband's  rice,  prepare  his  food,  row  his  canoe 
along  the  river,  do  all  his  drudgery,  and  take  such 
flogging  in  the  bargain  as  he  is  disposed  to  give 
her. 

A  man  wishing  a  wife  goes  to  the  parents  of  the 
one  selected,  and  makes  them  a  present  of  a 
country  cloth,  a  few  mats,  or  some  article  of  the 
kind,  at  the  same  time  making  known  his  request. 
The  man's  wealth,  or  ability  to  give,  regulates  the 
value  of  the  present  he  makes,  commonly  ranging 
in  value  from  one  half  to  two  dollars. 


64'  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

The  parents  and  family  put  the  applicant  off  at 
first,  and  generally  keep  him  in  suspense  as  long 
as  there  is  hope  of  getting  more  money  for  the 
girl.  If  the  man  is  intent  on  having  her  he  con- 
tinues to  call  on  her  parents,  carrying  a  present 
each  time.  To  go  without  one  would  destroy  his 
prospects  altogethea\  Thus  they  keep  the  appli- 
cant coming  until  they  think  they  have  obtained 
all  there  is  a  possibility  of  getting  for  the  daughter, 
and  then  he  is  told  he  can  have  her.  No  marriage 
ceremony  is  performed.  "When  the  price  is  paid 
the  bride  is  taken  away,  if  the  husband  so  desires. 

After  men  have  one  wife  they  sometimes  con- 
tinue to  work  until  they  have  means  to  purchase 
the  second,  and  then  they  cease  to  work  altogether 
or  do  but  little.  Two  wives  are  considered  a  com- 
petency, or  a  livelihood.  It  is  thought  two 
women  ought  to  be  able  to  support  one  man  ;  and 
hence  those  who  have  them  may  retire  from  active 
business  and  live  upon  their  earnings. 

A  man's  wealth  and  authority  is  estimated  by 
the  number  of  his  wives.  He  who  has  twenty, 
has  twice  the  wealth  and  authority  of  the  oiie 
who  has  but  ten. 

Wives  are  property  to  all  intents  and  purposes ; 
and  though  it  is  disreputable  for  a  man  to  sell  his 
wife,  yet  they  often  manage  to  get  rid  of  them, 
if  a  sufficient  compensation  is  offered.     They  have 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  65 

little  conscience  in  the  matter.  Sometimes  they 
manage  to  prove  an  accusation  against  them, 
which  they  make  an  excuse  for  selling  them  into 
slavery,  or  to  dispose  of  them  in  other  ways. 

Marriage  contracts  are  often  made  for  girls 
when  they  are  not  more  than  five  or  six  years  old. 
In  this  case  the  betrothment  money,  or  most  of  it, 
is  not  paid  until  near  the  time  of  marriage, — that  is 
when  the  girl  is  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old.  It 
is  considered  a  reproach  for  girls  to  pass  twelve 
years  of  age  without  having  an  offer  for  marriage. 
Indeed  they  are  frequently  married  at  that  age. 

While  I  was  at  Good  Hope  Station  a  man  came 
there  making  inquiry  for  his  wife.  Seeing  the 
girls  in  the  room  he  went  to  one  about  six  years 
of  age,  laid  his  hand  upon  her  head,  and  said  to 
me,  "  This  one  my  wife  ;  my  father  done  buy  her 
for  me  long  time  ago."  He  was  soon  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  fact  that  he  could  not  have 
her  then  nor  at  any  subsequent  period,  with  the 
consent  of  the  missionaries. 

The  children  taken  at  that  station  were  given  to 
the  missionaries  to  be  kept  until  they  should 
arrive  at  their  majority,  with  the  condition  that 
they  should  then  be  their  own  masters, — neither 
the  parents  nor  the  missionaries  having  further 
control  over  them. 

Parents  are   willing  to  give  up  their  childrei^ 

5 


66  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

thus,  and  give  book — a  written  agreement — to 
that  effect.  This  is  a  very  proper  way,  in  the 
opinion  of  many  missionaries,  to  take  children  to 
instruct  in  the  truths  of  Christianity;  for  if 
taken  young,  and  if  proper  training  be  given,  by 
the  time  they  are  of  age  they  become  so  well 
established  in  the  principles  of  Christian  morality 
that  they  are  likely  to  adhere  to  them  through  life. 

Daughters  are  emphatically  the  readiest  cash 
article  parents  have  for  sale,  and  those  who  have 
a  number  easily  get  a  livelihood.  Parents  rejoice 
when  daughters  are  born  to  them,  and  say,  "  That 
good  too  much."     The  reason  is  obvious. 

Another  fruitful  source  of  wife-getting  arisee 
from  the  decease  of  wealthy  head-men.  Soon 
after  one  dies,  the  male  members  of  his  family — 
relatives — meet  together  to  make  a  distribution  of 
his  goods  and  property;  and  his  wives,  in  common 
with  other  property,  are  distributed  among  the 
heirs  to  the  estate,  and  become  the  wives  of  the 
legatees.  If  any  refuse  to  go  with  those  to  whom 
they  fall  by  inheritance,  they  are  put  into  a  dark 
mud-hut,  and  left  without  food  or  drink,  or  pun- 
ished in  some  other  way,  until  they  acquiesce  in 
the  arrangement. 

Men  continue  to  get  wives  as  long  as  they  have 
means,  without  reference  to  age,  or  the  number 
they  already  have.     Kissicummah,  a  Mohamme- 


{ 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  67 

dau  chief,  who  was  very  old  and  frail,  was  still  get- 
ting wives.  When  visiting  in  his  town  I  asked  his 
son  how  many  wives  his  father  had.  He  replied,  "I 
know  not ;  but  he  have  plenty,  for  he  commence 
getting  wife  when  he  was  first  man,  and  he  keep 
getting  wife  yet,  for  there  one  he  get  last  week," 
pointing  to  a  girl  of  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  years 
of  age. 

And  now,  ladies  and  mothers  of  America,  why 
are  you  in  a  happier  condition  tlian  your  sex  in 
Africa?  Why  are  your  rights  respected,  and  your 
position  in  society  made  honorable?  Why  are 
you  not  oppressed  and  brutalized,  as  women  are  in 
Africa?  Why  are  you  not  bought  and  sold,  and 
cruelly  flogged  and  mistreated  generally  ?  Simply 
because  the  Bible  of  God  is  among  you.  Where 
that  book  is  not,  women  suffer  cruel  injustice. 

But  we  would  also  ask,  What  would  you  take 
to  exchange  your  happy  condition  with  the  one  of 
those  spoken  of  in  this  chapter?  What  would 
you  take,  mothers,  to  have  your  daughters  in  \\\q 
condition  of  young  women  in  Africa,  exposed  to 
tlie  liellish  cruelties,  and  the  soul  and  body  pol- 
luting influences  of  heathenism?  Aside  from  the 
refining  influences  of  Christianity,  neither  you, 
your  children,  nor  your  husbands  possess  any 
more  moral  excellence  or  regard  for  the  happiness 


68  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

and  rights  of  others  than  do  the  oppressed  people 
of  the  land  of  Ham. 

"We  are  indebted  to  the  Bible  for  all  the  intelli- 
gence, enterprise,  and  refinement  we  have  above 
the  heathen;  and  take  from  us  the  Bible  and  its 
influences,  and  in  a  very  few  centuries  our  condi- 
tion would  in  every  respect  be  as  wretched  as  that 
of  the  most  degraded  race  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 
Mankind,  the  world  over,  are  much  alike  when 
left  to  the  degrading  tendencies  of  their  corrupt 
natures;  for  "they  are  all  gone  aside,  they  are  all 
together  become  filthy :  there  is  none  that  doeth 
good,  no,  not  one."  "  They  profess  that  they 
know  God;  but  in  works  they  deny  him,  being 
abominable,  disobedient,  and  to  every  good  work 
reprobate." 

Could  Christian  women  in  this  land,  and  all 
Christians,  realize  how  much  they  are  indebted  to 
the  gospel  for  the  unnumbered  and  exceeding  high 
privileges  they  enjoy,  surely  they  would  make 
greater  eftbrts  to  give  the  bread  of  life  to  the 
thousands  who  are  perishing. 

Should  we  not  all  be  missionaries,  in  sympathy, 
feeling,  action?  And  should  not  the  burdening  in- 
quiry of  our  life  be,  "How  can  I  best  promote 
this  great  work?" 

If  the  consolations  and  hopes  of  religion  are  to 
us  of  more  value  than  all  the  world,  will  we  not 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  69 

have  others  enjoy  them?  Did  not  the  first  emo- 
tions of  our  souls  at  conversion  fill  us  with  a  long- 
incr  for  the  salvation  of  others?  Did  we  not 
feel  then  that  we  could  endure  any  privation,  make 
any  sacrifice,  and  perform  any  labor  possible  to 
save  others?  Does  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ  always 
fill  the  soul  with  yearnings  for  the  salvation  of 
others,  and  impart  to  those  who  possess  it  a  desire 
to  consecrate  themselves  fully  to  the  work  of  the 
world's  evangelization  ? 


70  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FUNERAL  CEREMONIES,  WITCHCRAFT. 

There  are  many  things  connected  with  their 
funeral  ceremonies  and  notions  of  death  which  are 
both  foolish  and  wicked. 

Often  as  soon  as  persons  die  they  are  opened,  to 
ascertain  whether  witches  killed  them  or  not.  If 
the  liver  is  enlarged,  or  any  of  the  internal  organs 
have  an  unnatural  appearance, — a  very  common 
thing  in  that  malarious  country, — they  say  "  witch 
killed  them."  Indeed  if  what  I  saw  he  a  correct 
criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  the  matter,  nearly 
all  the  deaths  that  occur  are  the  work  of  witches, 
either  directly  or  indirectly. 

At  York  Island,  a  town  in  which  I  preached 
several  times,  a  youth  was  killed  by  an  alligator 
while  bathing  in  the  river.  The  people  said,  "Some 
witch  turned  alligator  and  killed  him."  Subse- 
quently a  man  was  killed  nearKaw  Mendi  Station, 
by  a  leopard,  and  the  people  there  said,  "  Some 
witch  turned   leopard    and    killed    him."     Yery 


m   WESTERN   AFRICA.  71 

many  tilings  are  ascribed  to  the  work  of  witches — 
such  as  sudden  turns  in  fortune,  diseases  of  differ- 
ent kinds,  and  extraordinary  incidents  in  life. 

"When  anything  occurs  which  is  supposed  to  be 
the  work  of  witches,  no  matter  what  it  is,  some 
person  or  persons  are  apprehended  as  the  guilty 
party;  and  the  "witch-master's"  skill, — or  more 
correctly  expressed,  his  deception,  trickery,  and 
groundless  assumption, — becomes  the  mnpire  to 
establish  the  innocence  or  guilt  of  the  accused. 

Another  mode  of  trial  is  to  give  the  accused 
poisonous  drinks,  which  they  say  are  fatal  if  the 
person  is  guilty,  but  harmless  if  innocent.  If  the 
victim  he  an  enemy  of  those  trying  him,  death  is 
certain ;  but  if  a  friend,  they  may  easily  save  his 
life  by  making  the  poisonous  draught  very  weak. 

The  draught  generally  administered  is  a  decoc- 
tion of  the  sassy-wood  bark,  and  when  strong  is  a 
rank  poison ;  but  if  too  large  a  draught  is  given 
it  acts  as  an  emetic,  and  in  this  case  death  does 
not  result. 

When  persons  have  been  convicted  of  witch- 
craft they  are  tortured  in  various  ways,  mostly 
until  death  ends  their  sufferings.  They  are  tortured 
first  to  ascertain  whether  they  are  guilty,  and  then 
if  convicted  for  the  supposed  crime,  they  are  pun- 
ished most  cruelly. 

At  the  town  of  Manyua,  then  an  out-station  of 


72  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

Mendi  Mission,  a  man  was  accused  of  witchcraft, 
and  given  the  sassy-bark  tea  to  drink,  which 
taking  efiect  established  his  guilt.  A  rope  was 
then  tied  around  his  neck,  and  by  it  he  was 
draorored  around  the  town  until  dead.  Little  did 
I  think  when  visiting  the  head-man  of  that  town 
that  he  could  permit  such  barbarity,  for  he  seemed 
a  good  natured  fellow.     But  such  is  heathenism. 

!N"ot  far  from  Good  Hope  Station,  shortly  before 
my  first  arrival  on  that  coast,  four  persons  were 
rescued  from  death,  which  was  being  inflicted  by 
piecemeal.  These  persons  were  all  tied  to  the 
ground  so  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  them  to 
change  their  position,  and  fire  was  put  to  some 
parts  of  the  body.  One  woman  had  fire  put  to  her 
foot,  another  to  her  leg,  and  the  only  man  in  the 
company  had  fire  put  to  his  back.  Besides  this, 
they  were  in  a  state  of  actual  starvation  ;  and  the 
first  thing  they  requested  of  the  missionary  who 
eftected  their  rescue  was  to  give  them  food.  To 
burn  to  death  by  piecemeal,  with  only  food  enough 
given  the  victim  to  keep  life  in  him,  is  a  very  com- 
mon mode  of  torturing  persons  for  witchcraft. 

One  object  in  torturing  so  severely  seems  to  be 
to  extort  confession  from  the  victim;  and  with 
their  teachings  on  that  subject,  and  being  distract- 
ed with  pain,  some  confess  to  a  crime  they  never 
committed,  and  for  which  they  atone  by  death. 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  73 

Thus  many  annually,  because  of  the  superstitions 
and  cruelties  of  heathenism,  fall  victims  to  an  in- 
describably painful  death. 

"When  a  noted  head-man  dies  the  chief  men  of 
the  town  keep  it  a  secret  until  they  select  a  person 
to  take  his  place,  and,  if  possible,  embezzle  a  part 
of  his  property.  After  this,  they  make  the  "cry  " 
for  him,  which  continues  sometimes  for  months. 
If  he  has  relatives  who  live  at  a  distance,, they 
keep  the  knowledge  of  his  death  from  them  as 
long  as  they  can.  This  is  done  to  save  the  ex- 
pense of  feeding  them, — for  all  relatives  coming  to 
the  "cry"  must  be  fed  at  the  expense  of  the 
deceased  during  their  stay  to  mourn  for  him, — and 
to  have  the  better  opportunity  to  cheat  them  out 
of  their  portion  of  the  inheritance.  And  that  the 
reader  may  not  have  too  exalted  an  opinion  of  the 
value  of  the  estates  of  head-men,  we  will  say  here 
that,  leaving  out  their  wives,  under  the  most  favor- 
ble  circumstances  a  few  country  cloths,  and  mats, 
with  a  crop  of  rice,  make  up  the  amount. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  a  head-man,  but 
not  until  after  his  interment,  the  people  of  his 
town  o-o  to  the  nei2:hborinff  towns  to  solicit  aid  to 
defray  the  burial  expenses ;  that  is,  to  buy  rum 
and  powder  to  make  merry  the  season  allotted  for 
mourning. 

"Where  they  have  muskets  and  powder — as  is 


74  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  case  immediately  on  the  coast — firing  is 
kept  up  for  several  days  after  the  burial  takes 
place,  and  the  wives  and  friends  continue  crying, 
or  wailing,  at  stated  times,  for  several  weeks 
longer;  and  sometimes  the  whole  town  joins 
them. 

Besides  these,  there  are  professional  mourners, 
whose  business  it  is  to  go  from  town  to  town  for 
the  express  purpose  of  mourning  for  the  dead. 
These  must  also  be  fed,  and  supplied  with  rum  if 
it  can  be  had ;  and  they  go  about,  especially  in  the 
night,  moaning,  crying,  and  making  a  most 
hideous  noise.  They  call  over  the  virtues  of  the 
deceased,  often  giving  him  more  than  he  ever 
had,  and  then  they  cry  out,  "  Oh,  me  sorry  too  much 
for  my  friend  ;  me  go  hang  me,  me  go  drown  me, 
me  go  kill  me.  Oh,  me  wish  meself  die  instead  of 
me  good  friend." 

While  I  was  at  Good  Hope  Station,  a  man  was 
employed  to  catch  fish  for  the  mission ;  and  one 
night  while  fishing,  as  is  common  there,  one  of 
those  rambling,  hypocritical,  drunken  mourning 
parties  came  to  where  he  was.  He  drank  rum 
with  them  until  he  was  intoxicated,  and  in  that 
condition  he  came  to  the  house  at  midnight, 
waked  us  all  up,  and  was  intent  on  having  a  fuss. 
In  Africa,  as  in  America,  "  when  rum  is  in  sense 
is  out." 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  75 

They  "  cry,"  or  mourn,  for  all  who  die,  except 
slaves,  and  persons  killed  in  war,  or  for  crime. 

Those  killed  for  crime  are  also  denied  a  burial, 
and  usually  they  are  thrown  into  the  woods  to  be 
destroyed  by  whatever  may  chance  that  way. 

Crying  for  the  dead  is  quite  a  business  in  that 
country ;  and  not  a  few  sleepless  nights  do  mission- 
aries spend  because  of  the  noise  made  by  the 
moaning,  fiddling,  and  drumming  on  such  occa- 
sions. To  comfort  one  mourning  for  the  dead,  is 
to  "  cool  his  heart" ;  and  they  always  expect  a 
handsome  present  from  white  persons,  to  assist 
their  words  of  comfort  "to  cool  their  hearts." 

They  inter  their  dead  by  simply  rolling  the 
corpse  in  a  mat,  or  cloth,  and  putting  it  under 
ground,  sometimes  near  the  same  depth  usual  in 
this  country,  but  often  not  so  deep. 

Just  after  they  "  pull  the  cry  " — cease  from  it — 
for  a  head-man,  is  their  favorite  time  to  make  war 
upon  an  enemy. 

The  notion  is  quite  common  that  a  noted  head- 
man can  not  die,  but  that  he  changes  his  iden- 
tity, and  hence  they  call  the  new  head-man  by  the 
same  name  which  the  deceased  had.  This  is  also 
an  ancieiit  custom,  so  far  as  retaining  the  name  is 
concerned.  The  kings  of  Egypt  were  named 
Pharaoh  for  many  successive  reigns. 


76  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THEOLOGY,    DEVIL-WORSHIP. 


Their  theological  views  are  so  diversified  and 
vague  as  not  at  all  to  constitute  a  system  of  doc- 
trines and  practice;  and  hence  they  have  no  fixed 
forms  of  worship.  Some  worship  images  of  stone, 
which,  as  I  suppose,  were  made  by  former  gener- 
ations, and  kept  as  curiosities,  or  as  hieroglyphical 
representations.  They  have  also  some  wooden 
images.  A  degree  of  reverence  is  attached  to 
these  images  by  the  people,  and  some  say  that 
they  were  made  by  God  himself. 

So  far  as  I  was  able  to  learn,  they  all  believe  in 
the  existence  of  a  supreme  Jehovah,  who  is  the 
creator  of  the  world,  and  of  all  things  therein  ; 
that  he  is  almighty,  and  just  in  all  his  ways. 
Some  believe  that  the  earth  is  his  wife,  and  hence 
they  sacrifice  and  pray  to  her. 

They  do  not  think  that  the  great  God  concerns 
himself  much  about  the  aflfairs  of  men,  but  has 
committed  the  government  and  regulation  of  this 
world   to  inferior  deities.     They   say,   however, 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  77 

that  he  will  judge,  and  correctly  decide  the 
"palavers"  of  men  if  they  importunately  and 
perseveringly  plead  with  him  to  do  so  when  very 
imx>ortant  matters  are  in  dispute. 

They  suppose  that  God  is  very  comfortably  sit- 
uated in  the  upper  world,  and  that  he  concerns 
himself  only  for  his  own  happiness,  unless  some- 
thing of  more  than  common  interest,  among  men, 
requires  his  attention  and  interposition. 

They  hold  that  a  being  whom  they  call  devil 
is  the  author  of  all  providence,  and  that  he 
is  able  to  bring  good  or  ill  luck  upon  them — 
especially  ill  luck.  They  attribute  to  him  power 
to  injure  by  storm,  lightning,  and  various  other 
means,  and  even  to  take  the  lives  of  those  whose 
destruction  he  seeks.  To  keep  on  good  terms 
with  him  is  the  main  object  and  work  of  their  re- 
ligion ;  and  hence  they  pray  and  sacrifice  to  him, 
with  the  view  of  deprecating  his  wrath  and  se- 
curing his  friendship. 

Every  town  has  its  "devil-house,"  or  houses, 
where  they  suppose  he  comes,  and  to  these  they  re- 
sort to  offer  up  their  sacrifices.  They  suppose  that 
some  "  devils "  run  at  large,  while  others  have  a 
particular  locality,  and  generally  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  a  cataract,  a  large  stone  in  the  river,  or  a 
large  tree  in  the  forest.  When  they  pass  such 
places  they  always  manifest  great  reverence  and 


78  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

fear;  and  if  they  suppose  the  "devil"  there  is 
angry,  they  will  sacrifice  to  him.  Our  boatmen 
while  passing  a  rough  place  in  the  water  said, 
"Devil  angry  too  much,  that  make  the  water 
rough." 

I  saw  a  place  on  the  Boom  River  where  they  had 
a  "devil-house"  in  the  woods,  and  on  the  top  of 
it  was  a  country  cloth,  which  was  put  there  for 
his  use.  At  another  time  I  saw  them  bring  a 
quantity  of  rice  and  palm-oil,  and  place  them  near 
the  "devil-house."  They  often  take  the  best 
food  they  have,  prepared  in  the  best  order,  and 
give  it,  as  they  say,  to  the  "  devil "  to  eat.  They 
suppose  him  to  be  of  similar  tastes  to  themselves ; 
and  hence  such  articles  of  food  as  they  relish  they 
give  to  him.  At  another  time  I  saw  them  put  a 
quantity  of  rice  in  an  iron  pot,  which  was  sunk 
into  the  ground  its  whole  depth,  being  near  the 
"  devil-place."  Upon  inquiry  what  that  was  for, 
they  said  the  "devil "  would  come  into  the  pot 
and  tell  them  what  witch  trouble  their  friends  if 
they  get  sick. 

Near  the  "Wela  Falls,  on  the  Jong  River,  Mr. 
Brooks  and  I  w^ere  passing  a  "  devil-house,"  un- 
der which,  among  other  things,  lay  a  beautiful 
round  stone,  about  the  size  of  a  potato,  which  I 
took  up  to  look  at.  For  doing  this  I  was  called 
to  an  account  by  the  head-men  of  Wela;  and  after 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  79 

much  "palaver"  with  them,  Mr.  B.  bought  me  off 
for  the  value  of  forty-eight  cents,  and  a  piece  of 
lead,  which  they  said  they  would  give  the  "devil" 
to  appease  his  wrath,  who  was  now  very  angry 
because  of  what  I  had  done.  They  wanted  silver; 
but  that  being  refused,  they  said  lead  would  do 
if  they  would  cut  off  the  outside  and  make  it 
shine  like  silver,  for  the  "devil"  would  then 
think  it  was  silver,  and  would  not  know  the  dif- 
ference. "We  thought  with  them,  that  lead  would 
do  as  well  as  silver,  and  be  cheaper  for  us. 

These  "devil-houses"  are  mostly  mere  open 
sheds,  being  from  three  to  four  feet  square,  and 
of  about  the  same  height.  Under  them  they  oft- 
en have  pieces  of  china-ware,  and  glass,  or  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  If  they  can  get  from  white 
men  what  they  can  not  make  themselves,  if  only 
broken  glass,  they  regard  it  so  sacred  as  to  be 
worthy  a  place  in  the  "  devil-house,"  which  seems 
to  be  a  favorite  depository  for  things  which  they 
regard  as  beautiful  and  valuable. 

They  are  emphatically  devil-worshipers;  and 
they  are  most  profoundly  selfish  in  their  worship, 
as  in  most  other  things.  "We  must  not  forget, 
however,  that  in  their  present  condition  they  are 
not  capable  of  exercising  other  than  selfish  motives. 
They  have  no  systematic  form  of  worship,  but 
differ  in  this  as  much  as  people  do  in  America. 


80  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

They  evince  most  clearly  that  "  man  is  a  relig- 
ious animal,"  and,  as  might  be  supposed,  in  the 
absence  of  divine  revelation  or  any  guide  to  di- 
rect them,  they  are  deeply  sunken  in  idolatry, 
superstition,  and  seliishness.  They  demonstrate 
the  declaration  that  the  thoughts  and  the  imagina- 
tions of  men  are  evil  continually. 

The  only  reason  why  our  theological  views  are 
not  as  foolish  and  corrupting  as  theirs,  and  that  we 
are  not  believers  in  witchcraft,  devil-worship,  and 
a  thousand  other  foolish  things,  is  simply  because 
the  light  of  Heaven  shines  upon  us.  How  soon 
would  all  the  impositions  and  cruelties  found  among 
heathens  be  practiced  by  us,  were  the  restraints  of 
Christianity  removed.  "Without  these,  ours  would 
be  a  more  powerful  and  efficient  machinery  for  the 
promotion  of  all  that  is  debasing  and  cruel. 

The  time  was  when  people  were  killed  in  this 
country  for  the  imaginary  crime  of  witchcraft, 
and  by  those,  too,  whom  we  are  proud  to  call  our 
forefathers.  But  as  light  increased  belief  in 
witches  ceased,  and  with  it  the  cruelties  growing 
out  of  that  belief.  Witches  and  hobgoblins  never 
flourish  in  the  light  of  a  pure  gospel.  Were  the 
day  and  Sabbath  schools  in  the  "United  States 
closed,  religious  services  discontinued,  and  Bibles 
removed  from  our  midst,  a  half  century  would  not 
pass  before  witchcraft  and  numerous  other  super- 
stitious practices  would  be  common  here. 


AFRICAN    GREEGES. 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  81 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

GREGREES. 

The  superstitions  of  the  people  afford  them  a 
ready  explanation  for  many  things  otherwise  mys- 
terious to  them,  and  yet  explainable  upon  natural 
principles  by  an  enlightened  mind.  They  believe 
that  the  power  of  the  gregree,  the  work  of  witches, 
and  the  doings  of  evil  spirits  produce  many  phe- 
nomena in  the  physical  world  which  are  the  re- 
sults of  natural  causes. 

Gregrees  are  of  different  sizes  and  shapes,  and 
of  various  kinds  of  material.  Mohammedans 
make  a  great  many,  though  they  are  made  by 
pagans  also.  A  Mohammedan  gregree  is  a  piece 
of  paper,  with  a  few  Arabic  letters  and  characters 
upon  it,  incased  in  leather  or  cloth.  "When  used 
it  is  suspended  to  some  part  of  the  body,  usually 
the  neck.  A  pagan  gregree  is  a  few  leaves,  or  a 
little  clay,  or  sand,  or  a  pebble,  or  bark  of  a  tree, 
incased  in  a  cloth,  or  tied  together.  It  is  fastened 
to  the  wrists,  ankles,  and  other  parts  of  the  body. 


82  MISSIONARY   LITE 

They  suppose  these  will  keep  off  disease,  and  the  in- 
tended injuries  of  enemies;  preserve  from  poison- 
ous serpents,  and  wild  animals;  keep  off  all  evil, 
and  secure  all  good. 

Gregrees  are  so  common  that  few  persons  are 
without  at  least  one ;  and  sometimes  ten,  and  even 
twenty  are  found  upon  the  same  individual.  Or- 
dinarily each  one  has  a  particular  office  to  fill,  in 
the  way  of  averting  evil  and  producing  good; 
but  some  of  them,  like  patent  medicines  of  this 
country,  are  good  for  everything.  Confidence  in 
them  is  most  degrading  to  the  intellect ;  and  he- 
sides,  it  gives  great  scope  to  the  impostures  of 
those  who  make  them.  Exorbitant  prices  are 
demanded ;  sometimes  the  value  of  several  slaves 
for  one.  Once  I  asked  an  intelligent  heathen 
what  good  he  derived  from  his  gregrees.  He 
said  those  on  his  ankles  would  keep  snakes  from 
*'bite"  him,  and  those  on  his  wrists  and  neck 
would  keep  "bad  sick  from  catch  him." 

At  Baily,  after  staying  over  night,  the  com- 
pany consisting  of  four  missionaries,  the  head-man 
of  the  town  asked  us  to  give  him  a  piece  of  silver. 
He  had  treated  us  kindly,  had  given  us  presents, 
and  we  could  not  well  deny  his  request.  After  we 
•had  given  him  the  silver  we  inquired  what  he  in- 
tended to  do  with  it.  He  told  us  he  wanted  to 
make  "war  sarica"  with  it — which  is  a  charm  that 


IN   WESTERN  AFRICA.  83 

secures  from  war.  He  said  that  all  the  people  of 
the  town  would  meet  together  and  lay  their  hands 
upon  the  money,  and  in  the  meantime  one  of  his 
great  men  would  make  a  speech,  showing  the  ben- 
efits of  the  charm.  The  money  would  then  be 
incased  in  cloth,  and  deposited  in  a  safe  place; 
"  and  this,"  said  he,  "  make  that  no  war  come  to 
my  town." 

They  also  have  "  war  cooks,"  whose  business  it 
is  to  tell  where  war  may  be  carried  on  successfully. 
Sometimes  they  get  their  power  of  divination  by 
putting  different  vegetables  and  various  kinds  of 
leaves  into  a  pot  of  water,  and  boiling  them. 
Then  by  looking  into  the  stained  water  they  pre- 
tend to  tell — whether  by  the  color  of  the  water  or 
otherwise  I  can  not  tell — where  an  army  will  be 
victorious. 

These  cooks  are  generally  Mohammedans;  and 
as  they  mostly  speak,  read,  and  write  Arabic,  by 
correspondence  with  each  other  they  can  easily 
defeat  or  make  victorious  the  party  they  may 
select,  for  they  have  the  entire  control  of  the 
armies  of  the  people  who  employ  them,  and  being 
more  intelligent  than  head-men  generally  are,  they 
impose  upon  them  shockingly. 

The  Mohammedans,  by  the  power  of  these  "  war 
cooks,"  and  various  other  stratagems,  not  a  few 
in  number,  have  acquired  the  ascendency  in  many 


84  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

places  which  but  a  few  years  since  were  under  the 
control  of  real  pagans.  Indeed  all  the  Moham- 
medan chiefs  in  the  Sherbro  and  Mendi  countries 
are  usurpers,  and  hold  their  towns  not  by  right, 
but  by  might.  They  manage  to  put  down  or  out 
of  the  way — by  administering  poison,  if  nothing 
else  will  do, — those  who  have  much  influence  in  the 
country.  It  is  thought  that  King  Peer-Charly, 
and  others,  who  died  while  I  was  in  Africa,  were 
poisoned  by  their  doctors  who  were  Moham- 
medans. 

Gregrees  afford  security  from  all  evil,  and  give 
the  necessary  instruction  in  all  cases  of  emergency. 
They  are  emphatically  their  light  in  darkness, 
their  wisdom  in  ignorance,  and  their  strength  in 
weakness.  In  them  they  find  a  balm  for  every 
wound,  and  a  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  life.  In 
short,  they  put  more  coniidence  in  them  than  many 
professors  of  religion  do  in  the  Bible,  and  the  God 
of  the  Bible. 

Once  I  asked  the  head-man  of  a  town  what  he 
would  take  for  a  witch  gregree,  which  at  the  time 
was  hanging  near  the  door- way  of  his  hut.  He 
looked  at  me  with  surprise,  and  said,  with  his 
voice  elevated,  "You  loant  to  take  my  witch-medicine 
away  so  witch  come  and  kill  me  one  time." 
Another  time,  when  on  the  river,  my  men  seemed 
much  alarmed  upon  the  water  growing  rough, 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  85 

because  of  au  approaching  storm,  and  when  I  in- 
quired the  cause  of  their  fear,  one  replied  they  had 
no  gregree  for  storm  on  water. 

I  brought  several  kinds  of  gregrees  witli  me  to 
this  country,  and  one  "country  fashion."  The 
country  fashion  is  about  four  inches  long,  three 
inches  wide,  and  two  inches  thick.  It  is  covered 
with  cloth,  and  has  some  Arabic  characters  in  it. 
Tliis  is  used  for  a  variety  of  things — such  as  driv- 
ing evil  spirits  out  of  town,  trying  convicts,  curing 
the  sick,  and  keeping  oft'  sickness. 

To  try  convicts,  the  gregree-man  rubs  this  on  a 
piece  of  board,  or  wood,  back  and  forward,  and 
so  long  as  he  can  keep  it  going,  the  accused  is  ac- 
counted innocent,  but  if  it  stops  he  is  guilty. 
They  believe  that  some  supernatural  power  holds 
back,  or  makes  powerless  the  hand  of  the  opera- 
tor, so  that  he  can  not  continue  to  move  the  country 
fashion,  if  the  accused  be  guilty,  while  the  truth 
is  he  may  cease  to  move  it  at  pleasure.  Surely 
that  "  people  is  destroyed  for  lack  of  knowledge." 

I  must  give  some  account  of  a  few  of  the  gre- 
grees I  brought  from  Africa.  Two  of  them  were 
taken  from  a  slave  canoe  which  was  captured,  and 
the  slaves  liberated.  One  was  to  tell  whether 
slave-canoes  could  pass  places  where  there  was  a 
liability  to  be  captured.  They  have  a  way  of  con- 
sulting them  to  learn  such  things  from  them.    The 


86  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

captain  of  the  canoe  here  spoken  of  was  told  by 
his  gregree  that  if  he  would  take  a  little  girl,  and 
hold  her  foot  in  a  pot  of  boiling  water,  he  could 
pass  a  point  of  danger  safely.  Just  after  passing 
tliat  place  he  and  his  slaves  were  taken,  with  the 
little  girl  still  on  board;  but  the  flesh  had  all  fallen 
off  the  boiled  foot !  She  died  subsequently.  The 
gregree  also  told  him  that  after  he  had  passed  the 
place  he  must  sacriflce  a  slave  to  the  devil,  for 
granting  him  such  good  luck.  This  victim  had 
already  been  selected,  and  but  for  the  capture 
of  the  canoe  would  have  been  killed  in  a  short 
time.  The  other  gregree  taken  from  that  canoe 
"  was  good  to  keep  sick  from  catching  the  cap- 
tain." 

The  third  one  is  simply  an  old  padlock  covered 
with  cloth,  having  some  of  the  virtue-giving 
Arabic  writing  inclosed.  This  will  cause  its  own- 
er to  have  plenty  of  money,  and  no  one  would  re- 
fuse to  trust  him  if  he  wished  to  buy  anything. 
In  that  country  it  is  customary  to  pay  part,  at 
least,  in  advance  for  labor  and  goods;  but  this 
gregree  would  give  others  such  confidence  in  its 
owner  that  they  would  trust  him  for  all.  Doubt- 
less the  old  lock  was  begged  or  stolen  from  some 
trader,  and  because  it  served  as  a  safeguard  to 
keep  money  in  a  chest,  house,  or  wherever  they 
saw  it  used,  they  concluded  that  it  would,  with  a 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  87 

little  Arabic  writing,  be  good  to  bring  money  in, 
and  cause  others  to  wait  for  money  due  them. 

Another  of  these  gregrees  is  simply  a  roll  of 
splinters,  with  some  of  the  efficacious  writing  in 
the  inside ;  and  "  this  good  "  to  keep  witches  out 
of  houses,  and  from  hurting  persons  anywhere. 
This  class  of  gregrees  is  very  numerous.  "With 
but  few  if  any  exceptions,  all  feel  the  need  of 
protection  from  the  injury  which  witches  are 
sure  to  bring  upon  them  unless  they  are  thus 
secured. 

It  is  truly  remarkable  how  confidently  they  be- 
lieve these  gregrees  will  produce  the  results  for 
which  they  are  used ;  and  though  they  have  been 
deceived  by  them  scores  of  times,  they  still  cling 
to  them  most  firmly. 

If  any  one  makes  a  new  discovery,  performs  an 
extraordinary  feat,  or  is  very  skillful  in  any  re- 
spect whatever,  they  say  "he  have  some  gregree 
for  show  that."  I  heard  one  say  that  the  reason 
white  people  know  so  much,  and  make  so  many 
fine  things,  is  because  they  have  "one  big,  biq 
gregree  for  show  them." 

The  English  consul  of  Sherbro  Island,  Rev. 
Mr.  Ilandsen,  some  years  since,  captured  two 
slave-canoes  at  the  same  time,  having  only  his 
boatmen,  some  six  or  seven  men,  to  assist  him. 
Tie  shot  the  leader  of  the  canoes,  and  then  rushed 


88  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

suddenly  upon  the  others,  frightening  them  into 
non-resistance  and  submission. 

After  the  slaves  were  released,  a  number  of 
them  gathered  around  the  consul's  boat,  looked 
upon  him  with  admiration  and  surprise,  and  said, 
*Big,  BIG  medicine  live  in  that  boat."  They 
thought  what  he  did  was  by  the  power  of  the 
gregree,  supposing  that  such  success  could  not  at- 
tend him  without  one. 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  89 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CREATION   OP    MAN. 

"What  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  pages 
concerning  gregrees  will  prepare  the  mind  of  the 
reader  to  form  some  idea  of  the  views  of  the  work 
of  creation  in  general,  and  the  creation  of  man  in 
particular,  entertained  by  the  Africans. 

On  this  subject  I  need  here  only  narrate  a 
legend  current  among  the  Mendi  tribe,  illustra- 
tive of  the  order  God  observed  in  man's  creation, 
and  the  reason  of  the  difference  existing  between 
different  tribes  of  people.  The  story  runs  thus  : 
"  God  made  white  man  early  in  the  morning,  and 
take  plenty  time  to  show  him  book  palaver  [how 
to  read],  and  God  palaver  [a  knowledge  of  the 
gospel],  and  how  to  make  plenty  fine  things. 
Then  he  tell  him  to  go. 

"  Next  he  make  Mohammedan  man,  and  show 
him  little  book  palaver,  and  how  to  make  some 
fine  things   [most  all  that  is  manufactured  in  that 


90  MISSIONAKT  LIFE 

country  tliat  exhibits  skill,  Mohammedans  make] ; 
and  then  he  tell  him  go  to. 

"  After  thia  he  make  Mendi  man,  and  showed 
him  how  to  farm,  make  country  cloth,  mats, 
canoes,  and  such  like  things ;  and  then  he  tell  him 
to  go. 

"  In  the  last  place,  he  make  Sherhro  man ;  and 
wh^n  he  get  him  done  the  sun  go  down,  and  lie 
had  no  time  to  show  him  anything  but  make  salt 
and  catch  fish,  but  promised  to  come  back  and 
show  him  more  things.  But  he  forgot  to  do  so, 
and  that  the  reason  Sherbro  man  know  so 
little." 

Some  of  the  Timiny  tribe  say  that  the  reason 
why  white  people  are  superior  to  their  race  in  this 
world  is,  because  they  choose  their  good  things 
here,  but  black  man  choose  his  good  things  in  the 
next  world.  God  offered  both  happiness  in  the 
next  world,  if  they  would  be  content  to  brook 
hardships  in  this;  but  white  man  said  he  want- 
ed his  good  things  now,  and  hence  God  gave 
them. 

Dear  reader,  ought  not  you  and  I  to  praise  God 
with  our  lips,  and  in  our  lives,  that  we  may  have 
good  things  in  the  present  and  in  the  future  world  ? 
"No  good  thing  will  he  Avithhold  from  them  that 
walk  uprightly."  Oh !  the  unspeakable  goodness 
of  God,  and  the  condescension  of  Christ  "in  giv- 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  91 

ing  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from 
all  iniquity  and  purify  unto  himself  a  peculiar 
people  zealous  of  good  works."  -Are  we  that 
peculiar  people,  and  are  we  zealous  of  good  works  ? 
If  so  we  will  not  hold  our  peace,  nor  rest,  until  the 
darkened  sons  and  daughters  of  Africa,  who  think 
they  are  necessarily  compelled  to  drag  out  lives 
of  wretchedness,  enjoy  the  same  opportunities  of 
being  happy  that  we  possess,  both  in  this  and  in 
the  world  to  come. 


92  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

FUTURE    STATE. 

Africans  generally  believe  in  a  future  state  of 
being ;  but  their  views  of  that  state  are  very  differ- 
ent. The  Timinies  speak  of  "  good  die,"  and  "  bad 
die"  meaning  that  some  die  happy,  and  others 
miserable.  They  also  speak  of  "good  live,  and  "bad 
live"  in  eternity — meaning  that  some  will  be  happy 
there,  while  others  will  be  unhappy. 

Some  of  the  Mendi  tribe  believe  that  persons 
will  sustain  the  same  relation  to  each  other  in 
eternity  that  they  do  in  this  life';  that  those  who 
are  head-men  here  will  be  head-men  there,  and 
those  who  are  slaves  here  will  be  slaves  in  the 
future  world.  In  view  of  this  belief,  a  head-man 
on  the  Boom  River,  during  my  stay  in  Africa,  sent 
a  company  of  men  to  make  war  upon  a  town  to 
kill  slaves  for  his  son,  who  had  been  killed  in 
a  previous  engagement  by  the  people  of  that 
town.  His  people  met  with  a  second  defeat;  and 
when  they  came  back  and  told  the  old  man  what 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  93 

liad  happened  he  flew  into  a  rage,  and  said  to  his 
men,  "  Me  no  care  if  you  no  go  kill  my  enemies  to 
be  slaves  for  my  son,  then  let  my  enemies  kill  you 
and  you  go  and  be  slaves  for  him."  The  main  ob- 
ject was  to  get  persons  to  serve  his  son  in  eter- 
nity, and  he  would  a  little  rather  have  his  enemies 
killed  for  that  purpose;  but  if  that  could  not  be 
done,  then  he  was  willing  his  own  people  should 
be  sacrificed  for  that  object. 

Some  suppose  that  those  who  die  return  into  the 
world  again  in  a  state  of  infancy.  In  that  case 
the  gregree-man  is  called  upon  the  birth  of  a 
child,  to  say  who  has  returned  to  be  an  inhabitant 
of  earth  again ;  and  when  this  matter  is  settled, 
the  child  is  named  after  that  person.  The}'  all 
seem  to  think  that  the  spirit  of  the  deceased  lingers 
for  some  time  near  the  spot  where  the  body  was 
when  the  spirit  left  it,  and  some  have  a  great 
dread  to  enter  the  house  where  a  person  has  re- 
cently died. 

Some  also  think  that  the  soul,  like  the  body, 
requires  food  until  it  undergoes  some  change, 
which  change  they  say  does  not  take  place  until 
some  time  after  death. 

Because  of  this  belief  they  cook  rice,  and  what- 
ever else  they  eat  themselves, — which  is  mostly 
rice  and  palm-oil, — and  place  it  upon  the  graves  of 
their  deceased  friends.    I  saw  this  done  at  York 


94  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

Island,  and  at  other  places.  They  believe  that  the 
spirits  of  the  deceased  come  out  of  their  graves 
and  eat  the  food  put  there.  The  country  abounds 
with  birds  and  fowls,  and  many  hungry  children 
are  always  on  the  alert  for  something  to  eat,  and 
hence  the  food  disappears  in  a  short  time;  and 
those  stupid  creatures  take  this  as  evidence  that 
their  departed  friends  eat  it.  They  think  they 
are  conferring,  a  great  favor  upon  them  in  furnish- 
ing them  food. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  95 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

SLAVERY,     SLAVE-TRADE. 

Slavery  deserves  notice  as  a  African  institution. 
This  institution  in  Africa,  as  for  more  than  two 
centuries  in  America,  is  "  the  sum  of  all  villainies,' 
and  to  such  an  extent  is  this  system  of  villainy 
carried  on,  that  it  is  supposed  by  some  that  two 
thirds  of  the  entire  population  of  that  country 
are  slaves  to  the  other  third. 

Slavery  and  the  domestic  slave-trade  in  Africa, 
as  they  were  in  America,  are  the  prolific  sources 
of  infinite  suffering;  alike  in  their  general  features, 
cursing  both  master  and  slave. 

When  slaves  are  taken  from  one  place  to  an- 
other, they  are  packed  into  canoes  as  sacks  of 
grain  are  put  into  wagons  in  this  country ;  and 
thus,  with  little  or  no  food,  they  are  often  left  for 
sevci-al  days  together. 

The  customs  and  laws  of  that  country,  as  in 
slave  states,  hear  the  cruel  impress  of  slavery,  and 
certain  classes  of  free  people  have  no  security  that 


96  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

their  liberties  will  be  continued  tbem.  Is  one 
poor,  or  in  debt,  or  unfortunate,  or  a  tliief,  or 
surety  for  another  and  can  not  pay ;  or  does  one 
curse  the  king — speaking  against  him,  though  it 
may  be  justly,  is  cursing  him,  and  punishable  just 
as  speaking  against  slavery,  though  ever  so  mildly 
and  justly,  was  punishable  in  the  South,  and  by 
the  laws  of  slave  states,  when  slavery  existed  in 
them ;  or  is  he  found  in  suspicious  circumstances ; 
or  does  he  profane  a  sacred  place,  or  a  religious 
rite, — for  any  of  the  above  named  things  he  may  be 
sold  into  slavery,  unless  he  has  the  uncommon 
good  fortune  to  have  friends  to  interpose  in  his 
behalf.  Is  a  wife  untrue,  she  is  often  sold  into 
slavery.  Is  a  father  in  straightened  circumstances, 
he  pawns  his  child,  with  no  hope,  often,  of  being 
able  to  redeem  that  child. 

The  system  of  involuntary  servitude  is  an  evil, 
socially,  intellectually,  politically,  and  morally,  in 
Africa,  as  in  every  other  country  where  it  exists. 
Out  of  it  grow  fearful  cruelties;  and  perhaps  a 
more  fit  appellation  can  not  be  given  it  than  to 
call  it  the  emblem  of  hell. 

The  Soosoos,  who  occupy  the  country  north  of 
Sierra  Leone,  are  the  great  slave-traders  and  slave- 
owners. They  often  stint  their  slaves  in  food,  and 
work  them  very  hard  on  their  ground-nut  plan- 
tations.   The  country  south-east  of  Sierra  Leone, 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  97 

for  many  miles  on  the  coast,  is  to  them  what 
Virginia  formerly  was  to  the  sugar-growing  states 
of  this  confederacy,  namely,  the  slave-growing 
region.  It  was  thought  that  in  the  year  1855  not 
less  than  seventy  slave-canoes,  with  cargoes,  pass- 
ed through  the  lagoon  which  divides  Sherbro 
Island  from  the  mainland,  en  route  for  the  Soosoo 
country.  A  number  of  canoes  were  also  taken ; 
but  as  they  travel  mostly  by  night,  and  have  a 
great  many  places  in  which  to  secrete  themselves 
by  day  all  along  the  coast,  many  avoid  detection. 

From  twenty  to  forty  are  packed  into  one  canoe 
— put  into  the  closest  possible  space  as  a  matter  of 
course.  In  this  condition  they  often  get  sick;  but 
they  are  not  cared  for  any  more  than  a  sick  dog 
would  be  of  the  same  value.  How  similar  to  the 
treatment  of  slaves  by  white  men. 

In  evidence  of  this,  we  will  give  the  treatment 
which  a  cargo  of  slaves  taken  on  board  in  that 
country,  and  landed  at  the  West  Indies,  received  at 
the  hands  of  white  men,  and  a  white  captain.  We 
have  this  from  the  captain's  own  lips.  In  two 
hours  eight  hundred  slaves  were  put  into  the  ves- 
sel— in  his  own  words,  "  tumbled  into  the  hold  like 
sacks  of  grain."  On  the  passage,  three  hundred 
died.  The  only  attention  paid  to  the  sick  was  to 
remove  the  dead  from  among  them  every  morn 
ing.     Some   mornings  thirty  were  thrown  over- 


98  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

board.  So  great  was  the  atench  coming  from  the 
hold  when  the  hatches  were  opened  that  noiie 
could  endure  it  long.  Perhaps  none  but  crews  of 
slave-vessels  would  have  endured  it  at  all.  On  the 
passage  a  man  was  kept  at  the  top  of  the  main- 
mast all  the  time  to  look  out  for  cruisers  and  other 
vessels,  so  as  to  avoid  detection.  The  vessel  came 
neq|^being  taken  by  a  man-of-war  on  the  American 
coast,  and  was  kept  from  taking  on  board  the 
cargo  of  slaves  for  six  weeks,  by  a  man-of-war  on 
the  African  coast. 

After  the  slaves  were  landed,  the  vessel  was 
burned ;  but  with  the  loss  of  it,  and  of  the  three  hun- 
dred slaves  on  the  passage,  five  thousand  dollars 
were  still  cleared  for  the  owners.  The  captain 
was  offered  great  wages  to  make  a  second  trip,  but 
refused,  giving  as  a  reason,  that  he  could  not  be 
80  inhuman,  so  utterly  sold  to  cruelty,  as  those  of 
necessity  must  be  who  traffic  in  slaves  on  the  high 
seas.  He  also  told  me  that  he  was  closely  pursued 
by  officers  in  this  country,  and  would  have  been 
taken  in  all  probability  had  he  not  fled  to  another. 

The  only  reason  why  I  refer  to  this  circum- 
stance is  to  show  that  cruelty  is  inseparably 
connected  with  the  system  of  slavery,  and  that  for 
gain  white  men  are  quite  as  inhuman  as  are 
African  heathens.  The  love  of  power  and  money, 
connected  with  the  system  of  slavery,  has  wrung 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  9d 

groans,  tears,  and  blood  from  many  who  were 
"created  in  the  image  of  God."  "Man's  inhu- 
manity to  man  causes  countless  millions  to 
mourn." 

Through  the  influence  of  the  Mendi  and  Sher- 
bro  missions  and  the  vigilance  of  the  officers  of 
the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  of  traders  and 
missionaries  generally,  the  traffic  in  slaves  has 
been  largely  suppressed — on  the  west  coast 
especially,  in  the  country  where  our  own  mission 
IB  located.  It  has  of  late  become  so  difficult  to  get 
their  slaves  away  without  being  detected,  arrested, 
and  punished,  that  few  persons  are  now  willing 
to  take  the  risks  which  are  necessarily  connected 
with  It. 


100  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

PURROW-BUSH  SOCIETY. 

Next  a  chapter  will  be  giveu  on  the  doings  of 
the  "  PuiTow-bush,"  sometimes  called  "  Devil-bush 
Society."  Of  all  the  doings  of  this  society  I  am 
unable  to  speak ;  but  this  I  know,  that  it  is  a  secret 
society,  and  among  its  distinguishing  peculiarities 
are  sworn  opposition  to  every  system  of  religion 
and  government  contrary  to  their  own,  and  the 
promotion  of  idolatry  and  amuletism  among  the 
people.  As  before  stated,  the  people  are  "  devil- 
worshipers;"  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
this  society  was  organized  for  the  more  systematic 
and  zealous  worship  of  Satan.  It  holds  its  meet- 
ings near  the  spot  where  Satan  is  supposed  to  have 
at  least  a  temporary  residence,  or  a  favored  stop- 
ping-place, and  over  which  he  exerts,  as  they 
suppose,  a  powerful  influence. 

A  certain  initiatory  ceremony  is  observed,  and 
the  name  of  the  applicant  is  altered  when  admitted 
into  the  society. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  101 

This  mystic  order,  besides  regulating  the  wor- 
ship of  the  i^eople,  commerce,  and  the  value  of 
things  generally,  infuses  into  the  minds  of  the 
common  people  sentiments  detrimental  to  the 
spread  of  Christianity.  To  my  certain  knowledge, 
the  "purrow  society"  prevented  the  Mendi  mis- 
sionaries from  commencing  a  mission-station  at 
Wela.  The  head-man  of  that  town,  its  inhab- 
itants, and  a  large  portion  of  the  people  im- 
mediately thereabouts,  wished  it  done.  By  per- 
mission of  the  head-man  and  of  the  people  most  in- 
terested in  the  place,  the  brethren  of  that  mission 
had  some  vegetables  and  fruit-trees  planted  there, 
and  a  man  employed  to  take  care  of  them.  But 
this  society  put  "purrow  law  "  upon  the  place,  the 
substance  of  which  is,  that  no  one  must  do  any- 
thing there,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  unless 
they  do  it  "  by  strong,'^ — by  resisting  and  overcom- 
ing the  forces  of  those  putting  the  "purrow  laws" 
there,  or  by  war. 

Tliis  society  engenders  pride  and  selfishness, 
and  is  the  means  in  the  hands  of  Satan  of  leading 
its  members  and  advocates  farther  into  wicked- 
ness. When  one  joins  the  purrow  he  looks  down 
with  contempt  upon  those  who  do  not  belong  to 
the  society.  A  negro  who  helped  navigate  our 
boat  a  number  of  trips  became  a  member  of  this 
society  while  in  our  employ,  and  the  cliange  in  his 


102  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

conduct  toward  myself  and  others  was  so  marked 
that  we  often  spoke  of  it  at  the  time 

Women  are  not  allowed  to  belong  to  the  society, 
or  to  be  on  the  ground  where  it  meets ;  and  when 
they  walk  out  of  the  town  during  the  society's 
meetings  they  are  required  to  clap  their  hands 
together,  so  as  to  make  a  noise,  that  they  may  be 
warned  by  the  sentinel  on  guard  not  to  go  farther 
in  the  direction  leading  to  the  place  of  meeting. 

Had  one  of  their  own  women  done  what  I  did 
at  the  "  purrow-bush  house,"  near  the  falls  of 
Jong  River, — which  was  simply  to  take  into  my 
hands  a  round  stone  which  lay  in  the  house, — she 
would  have  lost  her  life;  and  for  the  same  offense 
one  of  their  own  men  who  is  not  a  member  of  the 
society  would  have  been  sold  into  slavery. 

Mr.  Brooks,  who  had  an  excellent  faculty  for 
the  investigation  of  such  matters,  being  a  man  of 
quick  perception  and  keen  insight  into  human 
nature,  and  Avho  had  long  resided  in  that  country, 
and  had  obtained  a  great  influence  over  the  peo- 
ple in  general,  and  the  members  of  the  "purrow 
society  "  in  particular,  and  who  had  taken  special 
pains  to  collect  facts  concerning  this  society, 
sketched  a  history  of  its  doings,  from  which  we 
extract   the  following  concerning  their  meetings : 

"One  of  the  members  of  this  association  acts  in 
the  capacity  of  a  devil.      He   speaks  through  a 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  lOS 

trumpet,  made  of  a  bottle  with  a  liole  in  the  neck 
like  a  flute.  He  also  has  an  interpreter,  who  is 
privy  to  all  the  wishes  of  the  "  purrow ;"  and  he 
speaks  what  they  wish,  and  not  what  is  spoken  by 
the  trumpet.  "What  the  man  with  the  trumpet 
says  must  be  done  is  done,  even  to  the  taking  of 
life.  No  woman  is  allowed  to  see  either  the 
trumpet  or  the  man  using  it;  and  if  she  should, 
she  must  die.  A  boy  who  strolls  into  the  woods 
where  they  meet  is  generally  detained,  and  in- 
troduced into  all  the  superstitions  of  the  purrow. 
All  the  people  in  the  purrow,  or  devil's  belly,  as 
they  call  their  place  of  meeting,  must '  cook  for 
the  devil." 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  circumcision  is  also 
one  of  the  rites  of  this  order.  My  antisecret,  as 
also  my  antislavery,  principles  were  strengthened 
by  an  acquaintance  with  these  institutions  in 
Africa.  The  church  and  the  world  would  be  bet- 
ter without  them. 

There  are  several  other  secret  societies  in  that 
country,  some  composed  of  men  solely,  and  others 
of  women.  Their  names  and  operations  are 
briefly  given  in  a  subsequent  chapter  of  this 
volume. 


104  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

CONDITION   AND   WANTS   OF   THE   PEOPLE. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  condi- 
tion more  wretched,  and  more  to  be  deplored,  than 
that  of  the  people  of  western  Africa.  It  is  in 
every  way  wretched,  physically,  intellectually,  and 
morally,  and  still,  alas!  their  course  is  steadily 
downward;  and  this  downward  tendency  is  greatly 
accelerated  by  influences  emanating  from  men 
hailing  from  enlightened  and  professedly  Christian 
nations,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  subsequent  chapter 
of  this  volume. 

They  need  an  entire  set  of  new  institutions, 
social,  educational,  political,  and  religious — a  com- 
plete regeneration  ;  and  that  this  may  be  eflected 
it  is  essential  that  good  and  wise  people  go  among 
them,  to  lay  the  basis  of  correct  society,  and  in- 
troduce the  arts  and  sciences. 

I  would  not  be  understood  to  convey  the  idea 
that  this  end  should  be  aimed  at  in  any  other  way 
than  by  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  in  their 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  105 

midst,  but  rather  as  the  result  of  the  gospel,  which 
result  always  follows  when  its  truths  are  received 
and  obeyed. 

The  Africans  possess,  in  an  eminent  degree,  the 
following  two  prominent  features  of  character, 
namely,  faith  and  obedience.  With  them  the 
mysterious  and  miraculous  enter  largely  into  the 
character  of  the  Supreme  Jehovah ;  and  hence, 
when  they  obtain  an  intelligent  view  of  Christian- 
ity the  glorious  miracles  of  the  Bible  are  readily 
believed,  and  are  highly  appreciated.  It  is  com- 
paratively easy  for  them  to  believe  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  exercise  faith  in  the  Savior  of 
men.  By  faith  here  I  do  not  mean  presumption, 
but  real,  living,  soul-saving  faith,  such  as  God  re- 
quires as  a  condition  of  justification. 

They  are  also  a  submissive  people,  and  are  sus- 
ceptible of  the  deepest  feeling,  which,  when  reg- 
ulated by  the  grace  of  God  in  their  hearts,  makes 
them  zealous  in  the  cause  of  Christianity.  But 
they  must  be  taught  the  way  of  salvation;  and 
this  will  infuse,  more  than  anything  else,  energy 
and  enterprise,  and  thus  cause  temporal  prosperity 
to  spring  up  among  them. 


106  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ENCOURAGEMENTS   TO    LABOR. 

From  the  experiment  already  made  in  the 
colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  we  are  fully  warranted  in 
the  assertion  that  missionaries  have  a  great  influ- 
ence over  that  people  for  good,  and  that  they  may 
do  much  to  elevate  them  from  a  state  of  degrada- 
tion to  a  state  of  moral  purity.  True,  there  yet 
remains  much  to  be  done  where  missionaries  have 
operated  for  years ;  but  is  there  not  also  much  to 
be  done  yet  among  the  people  of  this  country,  who 
have  heard  the  gospel,  and  have  had  its  restrain- 
ing and  purifying  influences  thrown  around  them 
from  childhood  ? 

Some  half-hearted  religionists,  and  wicked  per- 
sons who  neither  fear  God  nor  regard  the  rights 
of  man,  there  will  be,  in  despite  of  all  that  Chris- 
tianity can  do  to  prevent  it.  Were  all  the  clergy- 
men of  Ohio  to  concentrate  their  ettbrts  in  one 
county,  and  were  they  all  much  better  men  than 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  107 

most  of  them  now  are,  still  some  of  the  people  of 
that  county  would  live  and  die  in  sin. 

Paul  understood  this ;  and  hence,  when  he  had 
planted  a  church  and  fully  declared  the  whole 
gospel  in  one  place  he  went  to  another;  and  thus 
he  continued  to  go  about  much  of  his  time,  kind- 
ling up  the  glorious  light  of  the  gospel  that  men 
might  be  saved  if  they  would.  The  argument  that 
we  have  sinners  enough  at  home,  "  stay  here  and 
preach  instead  of  going  to  Africa,"  is  worth  noth- 
ing at  all.  True,  we  must  keep  up  the  institutions 
of  Christianity  at  home,  or  in  a  few  centuries  we 
should  be  what  the  Africans  are  now  in  point  of 
moral  degradation  ;  but  we  must  also  do  our  duty 
in  sending  the  gospel  to  those  who  have  it  not. 
We  should  be  encouraged  in  the  prosecution  of 
this  work, 

First :  From  the  success  which  has  attended  the 
labors  of  those  who  have  been  and  are  still  em- 
ployed in  it.  In  the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone  many 
of  the  colored  people  have  comfortable  and  well- 
furnished  houses — dress  decently,  and  even  ele- 
gantly. An  ample  fortune  has  been  attained  by 
numbers,  by  their  own  exertions.  A  knowledge 
of  such  trades  as  are  needed  in  that  country  has 
been  obtained.  Among  them  are  found  shoe- 
makers, tailors,  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  masons, 
painters,  watch-makers,  and  others. 


108  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

The  colony  is  well  supplied  with  week-day  and 
Sabbath-schools,  conducted  by  colored  teachers; 
and  it  has  also  quite  a  number  of  clergymen  who 
were  raised  up  in  it,  some  of  whom  reflect  honor 
upon  their  calling.  I  am  not  blind  to  the  mani- 
fold wants  still  existing  within  the  colony,  but 
when  it  is  compared  with  those  places  where 
heathenism  reigns  undisturbed,  there  is  reason 
for  rejoicing  in  the  great  work  that  has  been 
effected.  Many  sincere  Christians  are  there ; 
and  some  have  died  in  the  faith,  and  have  gone 
to  heaven.  We  might  refer  to  other  places  on 
the  coast.  And  indeed  we  need  not  go  outside  of 
Sherbro  Mission  to  obtain  abundant  proof  that 
the  labor  of  missionaries  among  that  people  is  not 
in  vain.  'No  one  can  go  into  the  schools  of  that 
mission  without  being  strongly  impressed  with 
the  improvement  the  j)upils  have  made  in  the  ac- 
quisition of  knowledge,  and  in  the  change  of  man- 
ners. Ajid  then  there  are  some  whose  conver- 
sion from  heathenism  to  Christianity  has  been 
shown  to  be  genuine  by  their  consistent,  upright 
lives  for  years  past. 

Second:  The  promises  of  God  afford  great  en- 
couragement to  missionary  effort  in  Africa. 
"Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands  to  God." 
"Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen 
for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  109 

the  earth  for  thy  possession."  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
God  has  not  only  promised  to  be  with  his  servants 
when  they  go  to  show  the  heathen  the  way  ot 
salvation,  but  he  has  also  promised  them  success. 
Where  have  the  servants  of  the  Most  High  labor- 
ed perseveringly  without  reaping  a  harvest  of  souls 
of  precious  value? 

Judson  and  others  toiled  and  waited  for  years 
before  they  saw  the  fruit  of  their  labors;  but  such 
was  their  faith  that  they  felt  assured  that  God 
would  in  his  own  time  water  the  seed  sown,  and 
cause  it  to  bring  forth  fruit  in  the  salvation  of  souls. 
God  is  faithful  concerning  his  promises,  and  he 
will  most  assuredly  fulfill  them.  "  Faithful  is  he 
that  calleth"  us  to  the  prosecution  of  this  great 
and  glorious  work,  and  he  will  do  it !  "Who  can 
doubt  the  certain  accomplishment  of  the  work 
which  God  has  so  positively  declared  should  be 
done  ? 

Third:  We  ought  to  be  encouraged  to  labor  to 
enlighten  heathens,  not  only  because  of  past  suc- 
cess, and  the  promise  of  this  in  the  future,  but  also 
because  it  is  our  bounden  duty  to  do  so.  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature."  An  important  part  of  the  work  of  the 
church  is  to  enlarge  her  borders, — give  those  the 
light  of  the  gospel  who  have  it  not,  and  bring 


110  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

them  under  the  saving  influence  of  the  grace  of 
God.  "  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that 
they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  We  can  not  let  our 
light  shine  before  men  in  Africa  unless  we  go 
there.  Admit  the  Bible  as  our  guide,  and  our 
duty  is  plain. 


m  WESTERN   AFRICA.  Ill 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE   VICIOUS   INFLUENCE    OF    THE   AVHITES. 

I  shall  now  show  that  the  treatment  which  that 
people  have  received  from  the  people  of  Europe 
and  America  places  us  under  lasting  obligations 
to  them.  If  restitution  is  a  part  of  repentance, 
which  we  most  firmly  believe,  when  it  lies  in  the 
power  of  the  trespasser  to  make  it  to  the  injured, 
then  we  can  never  receive  pardon  at  the  hands  of 
God  for  wrongs  inflicted  upon  the  African  race, 
except  we  make  to  them  all  the  restitution  which 
lies  within  our  power.  What  has  been  our  con- 
duct toward  that  race? 

First:  We  had,  up  to  the  commencement  of  the 
last  century,  robbed  Africa  of  no  less  than  twenty- 
five  millions  of  people  by  the  inhuman  slave-trade 
alone.  The  history  of  the  slave-trade  is  written  in 
characters  of  blood !  Could  the  dead  on  the  shores 
of  Africa,  and  those  who  found  a  watery  grave  in 
the  briny  deep,  and  many  on  American  soil,  who 
came  to  a  premature  death  by  the    slave-trade, 


112  MISSIONARY   LIFE. 

testify  of  the  sufferings  they  endured,  we  would  be 
filled  with  horror,  and  almost  hate  our  race.  But 
the  injury  done  them  involved  vastly  more  than 
loss  of  life  and  physical  sufferings.  Other  results, 
:][uite  as  prolific  of  suft'eriug  and  injustice,  grew 
out  of  the  slave-trade. 

To  get  a  cargo  of  flesh,  bone,  and  blood  the 
trader  would  say  to  the  head-man  of  a  town,  or 
the  king  of  a  country,  "You  get  me  so  many 
slaves,  and  I  will  give  you  so  much  powder,  to- 
bacco, and  rum."  To  obtain  them,  war  was  made 
upon  some  weak,  defenseless  town  in  the  night, 
and  the  required  number  captured. 

Thus  petty  wars  were  instigated,  which  to  this 
day  are  carried  on  by  some  of  the  tribes  for  the 
procurement  of  slaves.  By  slave-traders  the  ele- 
ments of  hell  were  introduced ;  and  they  have  been 
kept  in  motion,  and  still  cause  murder  and  rapine, 
with  cruel  and  bloody  hands  and  insatiate  maw, 
to  walk  through  that  dark  land,  difi'using  every- 
where distrust,  hate,  and  misery. 

I  will  not  further  detail  the  injuries  done  them 
by  the  slave-traffic,  for  their  name  is  legion.  But 
if  the  blood  of  Abel  cried  to  God  from  the  ground 
for  vengeance,  surely  the  tears  and  blood  which 
have  been  shed,  and  which  are  still  being  poured 
out  in  Africa  on  account  of  this  inhuman  traffic, 
are  crying  to  God  with  a  voice  louder  than  thun- 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  113 

der.  And  think  you,  reader,  that  this  catalogue 
of  crimes,  so  fearful  and  black,  will  go  unpunish- 
ed? "Will  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right?"  Guilty  one,  rest  not  easy.  "Because  sen- 
tence against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speed- 
ily," do  not  "  have  your  heart  fully  set  in  you  to 
do  evil."  "  Vengence  is  mine;  I  will  repay,  saith 
the  Lord."  If  you  have,  either  directly  or  in- 
directly, by  your  influence  or  by  your  vote,  en- 
couraged the  holding  of  slaves  or  the  traffic  in 
them  in  any  shape  whatever,  are  you  clear  of  the 
blood  of  men  ? 

Second:  Much  has  been  done  to  degrade  the 
people  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  among  them. 
Go  where  you  will  in  heathen  countries,  and  you 
may  find  the  white  man's  rum  and  tobacco,  and 
indeed,  almost  every  vice,  and  vice-producer  of 
enlightened  countries. 

Let  those  who  try  to  screen  themselves  from  the 
guilt  of  making  ardent  spirits,  and  who  take  to 
themselves  praise  because  they  do  not  keep  a  rum- 
shop  on  the  ground  where  they  distill  the  liquor, 
but  barrel  it  up  and  send  it  to  market  without  hav- 
ng  any  drank,  or  any  injured  by  it,  remember  that 
the  damning  effects  of  their  distilleries  are  fearfully 
felt  in  Africa  and  all  heathen  countries,  as  well  as 
in  others.     Think  you  that  the  Africans  are  better 

qualified  to  handle  such  a  dangerous  article  with 

s 


114  MISSIONARr  LIFE 

discretion,  and  without  abusing  it,  than  you  are  ? 
If  with  all  the  restraints  of  the  Bible  and  the 
frowns  of  public  sentiment  against  the  habitual  use 
of  ardent  spirits  as  a  beverage  there  is  danger  of 
being  overcome  and  destroyed  by  it  in  this  land,  as 
multiplied  thousands  are,  then  the  liability  of  being 
ruined  by  it,  soul  and  body,  where  all  these  checks 
are  unknown,  must  be  vastly  greater.  Is  not  a 
dangerous  weapon  safer  in  the  hands  of  an  en- 
lightened person,  who  at  least  should  have  control 
over  himself,  and  whose  position  in  society  throws 
around  him  a  powerfully  restraining  influence, 
than  m  the  hands  of  one  who  is  already  low  in 
vice,  and  who  has  nothing  to  lose  by  a  misuse,  or 
the  careless  use  of  that  weapon  ? 

Third :  The  frauds  and  cruelties  practiced  by 
traders  from  enlightened  countries  have  done 
much  to  increase  the  wickedness  of  the  people. 
New  ways  of  sinning  have  been  taught  them,  and 
new  temptations  have  been  placed  before  them. 
All  know  how  wicked  and  designing  men  wrong 
their  fellows  in  this  country,  and  how  trying  it  is 
to  the  better  and  finer  feelings  of  our  nature  to  be 
imposed  upon  and  cheated. 

"We  may  conceive  how  easily  advantage  may  be 
taken  of  the  ignorance  and  weakness  of  a  super- 
stitious people,  and  that  tlie  most  shameful  frauds 
may  be  practiced  upon  them.     Numerous  instances 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  115 

miglit  be  mentioned  to  show  that  this  has  been  done ; 
but  we  shall  dismiss  the  subject  by  saying  that  up 
to  this  time,  though  there  is  more  competition  now 
than  ever  before,  and  the  people  have  more 
knowledge  of  the  value  of  all  articles  taken  there 
in  exchange  for  their  produce  than  at  any  former 
period,  yet  on  some  articles  the  trader  makes  a 
profit  of  many  times  the  original  cost  of  them. 


116  MISSIONARY  LIFE 


CHArTER  XXXIII. 

WHAT   JUSTICE    DEMANDS,    GOD    COMMANDS. 

Now,  if  those  from  enlightened  couutriea  and 
of  our  own  color  have  done  so  much  to  debase 
that  people,  ought  we  not  to  do  something  to 
elevate  them  ?  Can  justice  demand  less  than  this 
at  our  hands  ?  And  is  it  not  a  reasonable  demand  ? 
Fellow-citizen,  philanthropist,  and  Christian, 
what  response  do  you  make  to  these  interroga- 
tions ?  If  there  is  a  race  of  people  on  earth  that 
should  draw  from  us  sympathy  and  benevolent 
deeds,  that  race  is  the  African.  For  my  part,  I 
can  not  explain  how  we  can  be  guiltless  in  the 
Bight  of  high  heaven  unless  we  put  forth  our 
hands  to  raise  them  from  the  dreadful  condition 
into  which  we  placed  them  ?  Is  it  not  to  be  feared 
that  the  Savior  will  say  to  us,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  not  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not 
unto  me  ? " 

We  are  commanded  to  do  good  to  all  men  as 
we  have  opportunity;  and  our  opportunity  to  do 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  117 

that  people  good  is  favorable.  But  to  accomplish 
that  good,  sacrifices  must  be  made,  not  only  of 
money,  but  also  of  friends,  health,  and  life  it  may 
be.  Many  must  leave  their  native  land  and  go 
among  them.  Persons  of  different  vocations 
should  go.  The  farmer  and  the  mechanic,  as  well 
as  the  school-teacher  and  preacher,  if  they  be 
God-fearing  persons,  may  do  valuable  service  in 
the  great  work  contemplated.  If  we  are  "  cruci- 
fied to  the  world,  and  the  world  to  us,"  if  we  are 
denying  ourselves  and  following  Christ,  or  if  we 
are  Christians,  we  will  be  willing  to  go  to  Africa 
if  the  Lord  so  direct  us. 

At  least  all  ministers  are  willing  to  go  who 
have  entered  the  ministry  with  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  the  import  of  the  commission  Christ  gave 
the.  apostles  just  before  his  ascent  into  heaven, 
which  commission  is  just  as  binding  on  the  pres- 
ent ministry  as  it  was  on  the  apostles.  When  the 
Savior  said,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to 
the  end  of  the  world,"  he  could  not  have  meant 
that  the  apostles  should  live  to  the  end  of  time, 
but  he  meant  that  after  their  decease  others  should 
be  called  to  the  ministry,  and  still  others,  and  that 
to  the  end  of  the  world  there  should  be  a  Christ- 
attended  ministry.  Hence  it  is  as  much  our  duty 
to  "go  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 


118  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

the  Holy  Ghost,"  as  it  was  the  duty  of  those  who 
heard  these  words  fall  from  the  lips  of  the  blessed 
Christ.  But  in  order  to  teach  the  nations  we  must 
go  where  they  are.  If  we  are  the  willing  servants 
of  the  "Most  High,"  we  are  ready  to  go  where 
the  providence  of  God  directs.  We  had  better 
be  in  Africa  with  the  fever  six  months  out  of 
twelve,  than  to  be  out  of  the  line  of  duty.  "We 
will  be  happier  in  suffering  the  loss  of  all  things 
for  Christ's  sake,  than  in  the  possession  of  all 
things  if  disobedient. 

External  circumstances  have  little  to  do  with 
happiness ;  for  God  can  and  does  overrule  priva- 
tion and  affliction,  and  make  them  sources  of 
happiness  to  his  faithful  servants.  No  man  can 
be  unhappy  while  he  obeys  God. 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  119 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

MEASURE   AND   TEST    OF   LOVE. 

I  must  be  permitted  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments 
upon  a  subject  on  which  the  Scriptures  are 
plain  and  unequivocal;  but  it  is  a  subject  which 
the  Christian  world  is  slow  to  comprehend  and 
appreciate.  It  is  the  relation  which  money  and 
personal  sacrifice  sustain  to  the  evangelization  of 
the  heathen.     Turn  to  I.  John  iii.  16,  17. 

In  the  sixteenth  verse  the  idea  of  self-sacrifice  is 
presented,  and  a  sacrifice  is  required  which  is 
more  valuable  than  all  the  wealth  that  it  has  ever 
yet  been  the  fortune  of  any  mortal  to  possess, — for 
"all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life;"  and 
here  he  is  called  to  give  his  life,  if  the  promotion 
of  Christ's  cause  demands  it. 

In  the  seventeenth  verse  worldly  goods  are 
spoken  of,  and  the  strong  implication  is  that  those 
who  withhold  them  can  not  enjoy  the  love  of  God. 

Connect  this  with  a  parallel  passage  in  Ephe- 
sians,  v.  5,  where  it  is  said  that  the  covetous  man 


120  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

— who  19  an  idolater — "hath  no  inheritance  in  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  God ;"  and  the  case  is 
fully  made  out  that  covetous  persons  are  not 
the  subjects  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  on  earth, 
nor  will  they  be  possessors  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  above. 

Those  ministers  of  the  gospel,  then,  who  send 
covetous  people  to  perdition  land  them  not  far 
from  the  place  where  the  Bible  lets  them  (low w, 
and  if  the  Bible  is  reliable  testimony  in  the  case, 
then  the'idolater  has  as  good  a  chance  for  heaven 
without  praying  as  the  covetous  professor  of  re- 
ligion has  without  paying,  with  all  the  praying 
and  weeping  he  can  do.  One  of  the  texts  quoted 
denies  him  the  love  of  God  in  this  world,  and  the 
other  denies  him  admission  into  heaven  ;  and  more 
than  this  can  not  be  denied  the  thief,  or  the 
profaner  of  God's  name.  "  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him." 

Kow  read  slowly  and  reflectingly.  "Hereby 
perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  because  he  laid  down 
Ms  life  for  us :  and  we  ought  to  lay  down  our 
lives  for  the  brethren.  But  whoso  hath  this 
world's  good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need, 
and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of  compassion  from 
him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  ?  " 

Some  say  we  ought  to  give  the  tenth ;  and  Avhat 
an  improvement  in  our  contributions  would  be  ap- 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  121 

parent  if  all  would  give  this  much !  But  the  New 
Testament  knows  no  such  definite  rule,  no  such 
exact  limit.  It  does  not  intimate  that  we  may 
stop  at  the  tenth.  The  gospel  idea  is,  tliat  we  are 
to  give  when  objects  of  need  present  themselves 
to  us,  as  our  ability  will  allow. 

"  Whoso  hath  this  world's  good."  E^othing  is 
said  of  the  amount  he  has,  or  of  the  proportion  he 
is  to  give.  If  a  man  has  two  farms  and  sells  one, 
and  gives  the  proceeds  thereof  to  benevolent  pur- 
poses, and  an  object  of  charity — a  "brother  in 
need" — then  presents  himself  to  that  man,  and  he 
can  give  without  impoverishing  his  family,  or 
those  dependent  on  him  for  support,  he  is  still 
bound  to  give.  Many  ivho  have  no  real  estate  give, 
— and  as  a  general  thing  those  are  the  most  be- 
nevolent. Surely,  then,  the  man  with  one  farm^ 
though  he  may  have  given  twenty  farms  away 
before,  should  still  give.  The  only  questions  are, 
Has  he  "  this  loorlcVs  good?"  and,  7s  there  a  " brother 
in  need  f — in  need  of  temporal  or  spiritual  bless- 
ings, whether  he  be  white,  black,  or  red,  living 
in  America,  Asia,  or  Africa.  If  there  is,  he  must 
give. 

If  we  take  the  primitive  Christians  for  a  stand- 
ard by  which  to  regulate  giving  we  shall  iind 
ourselves  wofully  deficient,  for  they  sold  all  that 
they  had   and  laid  the   proceeds  at  the  apostles' 


122  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

feet;  and  distribution  was  made  unto  every  man 
according  as  he  liad  need.  If  it  be  true  that  all 
that  we  have  and  are  is  Christ's,  might  it  not  also 
be  our  duty  to  give  all  for  the  promotion  of  his 
kingdom  ? 

But  if  we  take  the  Savior  as  an  example  of  be- 
nevolence, we  will  carry  on  the  work  of  evange- 
lization at  any  and  every  cost.  He  left  a  better 
residence,  in  a  better  country,  and  better  friends 
than  it  is  possible  for  us  to  leave,  and  came  into 
as  bad  a  place,  and  among  as  bad  a  people 
as  is  possible  for  us  to  find;  for  nowhere  would 
the  people  do  worse  than  kill  us.  He  gave  up  his 
wealth  in  heaven,  and  then  his  life  a  ransom  for  us. 

Concerning  the  African  mission,  many  reason 
thus : 

"It  will  cost  too  much;  and  besides,  it  will  do 
no  good.  They  are  a  stupid,  degraded  people  any- 
how, and  there  can  nothing  be  made  out  of  them. 
Go  among  them  and  do  all  you  can  to  teach  them 
better,  and  they  will  rob  you  of  your  goods,  and 
keep  on  doing  as  they  now  do.  God  has  placed 
them  over  there  in  Africa,  and  he  will  do  right 
with  them.  Stay  at  home  and  do  good  here,  and 
don't  go  over  there  and  get  sick  and  die." 

l^ow  the  blessed  Savior  in  heaven  could  have 
said  as  bad  things  of  the  people  living  on  earth 
just  before  he  came  to  this  world,  as  can  be  said 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  123 

of  the  Africans;  but  still  he  came,  and  let  them 
abuse  and  kill  him,  and  rob  him  of  all  he  had  for 
the  sake  of  unbarring  heaven's  gate  to  them. 
Had  he  done  as  many  do  toward  the  heathen,  we 
would  have  sunk  to  utter  ruin. 

We  are  absolutely  commanded  to  do  to  others 
as  we  would  have  them  do  to  us;  and  were  we  in 
their  condition,  and  they  in  ours,  would  we  not 
desire  them  to  give  us  the  gospel?  And  b}''  so 
doing  we  will  at  the  same  time  enhance  our  own 
happiness,  both  in  time  and  eternity.  It  is  a  truth 
established  by  experience,  observation,  and  script- 
ure that  those  who  do  most  for  the  extension  of 
Christ's  kingdom  among  men  enjoy  most  of  the 
Divine  presence  in  this  life  ;  and  that  such  will  be 
very  happy  in  death  and  in  heaven  there  can  be 
no  doubt. 

Dying  men  have  complained,  and  even  those 
who  were  thought  to  be  excellent  men  and  devoted 
Christians,  that  they  had  not  done  enough  for  God 
and  his  cause ;  but  we  have  never  heard  of  one 
who  regretted  that  he  had  done  too  much. 

As  Christians,  we  are  to  improve  the  talents 
God  has  given  us,  and  the  money  talent  of  the 
Church  is  of  such  a  character  that,  if  improved  by 
us,  we  may  under  God  accomplish  an  important 
work  in  the  great  enterprise  of  evangelization. 
The  Church  has  the  means  and  men,  which  if  con- 


124  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

secrated  and  used  are  able  to  spread  the  gospel  far 
and  wide,  but  which  if  unconsecrated  and  unim- 
proved may  be  taken  away. 

The  history  of  the  church  in  every  age  of  the 
world  is  evidence  to  the  point.  Take  as  an  ex- 
ample the  Jewish  people.  They  were  prospered 
only  so  long  as  they  were  faithful  to  the  charge 
intrusted  to  them,  but  when  they  became  penurious 
and  offered  blemished  sacrifices  to  God,  instead  of 
the  best  of  their  flocks,  as  they  were  commanded 
to  do,  their  glory  departed  from  them,  and  they 
became  poor, — and  especially  poor  in  religious  life, 
as  is  now  the  case  with  the  close-fisted  professor  of 
religion.  He  that  soweth  sparingly  shall  also  reap 
sparingly,  but  he  that  soweth  bountifully  shall 
also  reap  bountifully.  God  can  cause  a  certain 
spot  of  ground,  or  business,  to  yield  a  hundred 
dollars  profit,  which  if  given  to  Him  will  secure 
the  donor  at  least  one  thousand  dollars  worth  of 
happiness;  but  if  withheld  from  him,  He  will 
withhold  the  happiness,  and  may  afterward  with- 
hold the  increase  or  gain. 

There  are  wicked  men  whom  the  Lord  lets  alone, 
as  he  did  Ephraim.  They  are  joined  to  the  idol  of 
wealth ;  and  the  Lord  permits  them  to  make  all  the 
money  they  can,  and  do  with  it  what  they  please. 
And  many  such  become  rich.  God  knows  they  will 
have   a  hard  time   of  it  in  the  world  to  come, 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  125 

where,  like  the  rich  man  spokeu  of  by  the  Savior, 
they  may  be  denied  water  to  cool  their  tongues  ; 
and  he  lets  them  enjoy  their  idol  while  here  on 
earth. 

But  the  case  is  different  with  persons  of  en- 
lightened consciences,  who  have  tasted  that  God 
is  good,  and  who,  though  they  may  have  lost  it, 
once  possessed  the  pardoning  love  of  God  in  their 
hearts.  Such  persons  are  prepared  to  appreciate 
the  blessings  of  salvation  to  some  extent,  at  least ; 
and  hence  they  must  feel  the  importance  of 
"  giving  as  the  Lord  hath  prospered  them,"  to  send 
the  gospel,  with  its  untold  blessings,  to  those  who 
have  it  not.  Such  will  be  cursed  often  in  their  basket 
and  store,  if  they  withhold.  Why  is  it  that  so 
many  people,  though  they  make  money,  and  never 
give  any  away,  still  do  not  prosper  ? 

IIow  often  do  professors  of  religion  say  that 
they  would  not  give  their  hope  of  heaven  for 
all  the  world,  and  yet  refuse  a  very  small  amount 
of  their  part  of  the  world  to  give  others  that  same 
hope  of  heaven.  If  the  hope  of  heaven  is  so  valu- 
able, and  puts  them  in  possession  of  joy  inex- 
pressible and  abiding,  think  you  not  that  it  will  be 
of  as  much  value  to  that  dark  African,  whose 
mind  is  still  darker  than  his  skin,  as  it  is  to  them? 
That  a  well-grounded  hopu  of  heaven  is  of  more 
value  to  an  individual  than  all  the  world  would  be, 


126  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

is  certainly  true ;  but  that  those  who  are  so  close- 
fisted  as  to  refuse  a  respectable  portion  of  their 
means,  to  put  within  the  reach  of  the  heathen 
the  same  hope,  are  in  possession  of  a  well-founded 
hope  of  heaven,  is  certainly  a  mistake. 

"I'speak  as  unto  wise  men;  judge  ye  what  I 
say." 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  127 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

WHAT   THE    GOSPEL   WILL   DO. 

I  assume  what  I  suppose  will  not  be  denied  by 
a  Christian,  that  the  gospel  will  do  for  all  heathens 
what  it  has  done  for  us ;  and  hence  I  shall  only  give 
a  brief  sketch  of  the  blessings  flowing  from  the 
gospel  to  us,  as  a  nation,  to  show  what  it  will  do 
for  those  who  have  it  not.  That  we  are  indebted 
to  Christianity  for  all  that  we  possess  above  hea- 
thens, no  Christian  will  deny.  To  it  we  are  indebt- 
ed for  a  free  government,  which  in  itself  is  an  in- 
estimable blessing  when  founded  on  right  princi- 
ples. Among  the  inalienable  rights  spoken  of  in 
the  "Declaration  of  Independence"  are  life,  lib- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  and  who  can 
estimate  the  importance  of  being  protected  in 
these  ?  To  bring  this  home  to  the  reader  let  me 
ask.  Would  you  have  your  brother,  sister,  father, 
mother,  or  child  exposed  to  the  cruelties  practiced 
daily  in  Africa  and  other  heathen  lands,  for 
any   earthly    consideration?      Would    you  have 


128  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

them  where  they  would  be  liable  to  be  burned  to 
death  by  piecemeal  for  the  supposed  crime  of 
witchcraft,  and  exposed  to  a  thousand  such  cruel- 
ties, and  without  security  of  life,  or  rights  of  any 
kind,  from  one  hour  to  another,  for  the  wealth 
of  America? 

We  are  largely  indebted  to  the  influence  of  the 
gospel  for  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  for 
mechanical  and  agricultural  enterprise,  for  the  dis- 
covery of  the  power  of  steam,  electricity,  hydros- 
tatics, and  their  application  to  a  thousand  useful  ob- 
jects. How  wonderfully  labor  is  lessened  by  their 
use,  and  how  they  add  to  the  convenience  and 
comfort  of  the  people  of  enlightened  countries, 
only  those  can  fully  appreciate  who  have  resided 
among  heathens.  We  are  indebted  to  the  same 
cause  for  all  the  refinements  of  society.  The 
gospel  develops  and  ennobles  the  nature  of  man, 
and  greatly  elevates  even  those  who  do  not  adopt 
it  as  a  rule  of  action,  but  still  enjoy  its  light  and 
influence. 

The  influence  of  the  gospel  in  our  midst 
greatly  adds  to  our  wealth  as  a  nation.  Why  is  it 
that  land  in  some  localities  in  this  country  is  worth 
from  one  to  two  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  while 
plenty  of  just  as  good  land,  and  naturally  as  well 
located,  in  Africa  is  not  worth  a  dime  per  acre? 
And  why  is  it  that  a  day's  labor  in  this  country 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  129 

is  worth  from  one  to  ten  dollars,  while  the  same 
amount  of  labor  there  is  worth  from  one  to  two 
dimes?  The  reason  of  this  difference  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  we  have  the  Bible,  and  they  have  it 
not.  The  Bible  fosters  invention,  enterprise,  and- 
refinement  wherever  it  goes;  and  wealth  follows 
in  its  train. 

In  a  very  important  sense  the  Bible  has  made 
our  turnpikes,  canals,  and  railroads,  as  well  as  the 
cars  and  boats  and  wagons  used  upon  them.  It 
has  made  our  good  houses,  steam-mills,  factories, 
ships,  our  trades,  professions,  and  books.  It  has 
made  our  telegraph  lines,  by  which  we  converse 
with  each  other  thousands  of  miles  apart.  But 
these  are  the  less  important  blessings  it  confers 
upon  us.  Our  feeble  powers  are  inadequate  to 
enumerate  the  spiritual  benefits  it  lavishes  upon 
us.  Take  from  us  the  Bible,  and  with  it 
must  go  the  holy  Sabbath,  the  preaching  of  the 
sanctuary,  the  institutions  of  the  church,  the 
liberties,  social,  civil,  and  religious,  which  we  en- 
joy, and  our  hope  of  heaven. 

And  what  would  be  the  result  were  we  deprived 
of  all  its  restraints  from  vice  and  inducements  to 
virtue  ?  Why,  idolatry  would  regain  its  lost  as- 
cendency, superstition  would  stalk  forth  in  oui* 
midst,  and  barbarity  in  its  most  cruel  forms — such 
as  burning  persons  for  witchcraft,  and  sacrificing 


130  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

human  beings  by  thousands  to  some  imaginary 
deity,  as  is  now  done  by  some  of  the  tribes  of  Af- 
rica, with  an  innumerable  multitude  of  enormities 
such  as  only  those  can  conceive  who  are  en- 
shrouded in  the  darkness  of  heathenism,  and  "led 
captive  by  the  devil  at  his  will," — would  roll  upon 
us  like  a  devouring  flood  ! 

We  must  support  our  home  institutions,  espe- 
cially those  which  are  good,  and  modify  and  make 
good  those  that  are  not  in  accordance  with  the 
Bible.  If  we  do  not  sustain  the  institutions  of 
Christianity  in  our  midst  it  will  not  be  two  centu- 
ries until  we  shall  be  where  Africa  now  is,  in  point 
of  moral  degradation,  and  long  ere  that  period 
bloodshed  and  carnage  will  fill  this  pleasant  land 
constantly. 

But  while  we  support  the  gospel  at  home,  we 
should  not  fail  to  send  it  abroad.  To  do  good, 
next  to  becoming  good,  is  the  great  work  of  life, 
and  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  heathen  physically,  we  ought  to 
give  them  the  gospel  of  reconciliation.  Had  you 
a  neighbor  starving  for  want  of  food,  and 
freezing  for  want  of  fuel,  as  a  Christian,  you 
would  feel  it  your  duty  to  alleviate  his  wants. 
Well,  thousands  in  heathenism  are  now  siiftering 
daily  quite  as  much  as  this  man  in  his  destitution, 
— we  mean  in  a  physical  sense.     The  introduction 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  131 

of  the  gospel  among  them  is  the  only  remedy  for 
their  physical  sufferings,  as  well  as  for  their  spiritual 
maladies ;  and  we  have  the  means  in  abundance 
to  give  them  a  preached  as  well  as  a  written 
gospel.  Why,  we  can  aflbrd  to  give  to  benevolent 
purposes  half  of  all  we  have,  and  be  more  wealthy 
then  than  we  would  be  to  keep  all  we  have  and 
be  without  the  Bible ;  and  yet  this  is  their  sad  con- 
dition. 

Do  not  say  I  am  speaking  at  random  when  I 
say  that  the  gospel  will  do  for  the  heathen  what  it 
has  done  for  us;  for  physical,  social,  moral,  intel- 
lectual and  natural  elevation  are  the  legitimate  re- 
sults of  its  introduction  everywhere.  To  have 
doubts  as  to  whether  it  will  atiect  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  any  people,  when  it  is  preached 
clearly,  perseveringly,  and  in  the  demonstration 
of  the  Spirit,  is  to  doubt  the  veracity  of  God's 
word.  What  God  has  promised  he  will  most 
surely  accomplish,  as  the  history  of  our  mission  in 
Africa  so  abundantly  shows,  and  to  the  consider- 
ation of  which  several  chapters  will  next  be  given. 


132  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

LOCATION    OF    SIIERBRO   MISSION. 

The  first  missionaries  to  Africa,  sent  there  by 
the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  were  Kevs.  "W.  J. 
Shney,  D.  C.  Kumler,  and  the  writer,  wlio  landed 
in  Freetown,  Sierra  Leone,  February  26th,  1855. 
After  remaining  there  a  few  days,  they  sailed 
down  the  coast  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  to  Good  Hope,  on  Sherbro  Island — the  name 
of  a  mission-station  in  charge  of  the  AmericiCn 
Missionary  Association.  This,  by  mutual  agree- 
ment, became  their  temporary  home,  and  they  at 
once  commenced  ^^I'ospecting  the  country  along 
the  Little  Boom,  Big  Boom,  Jong,  and  Bar- 
groo  rivers,  to  find  a  suitable  place  at  which 
to  open  a  mission.  Mo  Kelli,  on  the  Jong  River, 
being  a  large  toAvn,  and  near  to  a  number  of  other 
towns  having  a  large  population,  Avas  thought  to 
be  a  good  point  at  one  time  ;  but  it  ])eiiig  diflicult 
to  reach,  owing  to  the  falls  in  the  river,  eleven 
miles  below,  over  which  canoes  and  boats  could 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  133 

not  pass,  tliis  project  was  abandoned  by  the  mis- 
sionary remaining  in  the  field,  after  the  other  two 
returned  to  America.     He  next   attempted  to  ob- 
tain a  place  in    or  near  the  town  of  Shengay, 
where  the  principal  station  of   Sherbro  Mission 
now  is,  and  frequently  visited   Mr.  Caulker,  the 
head-man  of  that  place,  for  this  purpose.     Keceiv- 
ing    but  little    encouragement    that   permission 
would  be  given  to  commence  a  mission  there,  two 
trips  were  made  up  the  Big  Boom  River,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  miles,  to  seek  a  location  up- 
on its  banks.     The  last  time,  a  selection  was  made ; 
and  the  chiefs  and  head-men  interested  agreed  to 
meet  the  missionary,  to  arrange  terms  upon  which 
the  site  selected   should  become  mission  property. 
After  waiting  several  days,  he  was  compelled  to 
abandon  this  project  also,  because  the  parties  who 
alone  could  give  the  right  to  open  the  mission 
failed  to  meet  as  they  had  promised.     This  was 
late  in  December,  and  but  a  few  days  before  the 
missionary  was  prostrated   by  his  second   severe 
attack  of  African  fever,  from  which  he  never  re- 
covered sufliciently  to  do  much  until  after  he  re- 
turned to  America  the  following  May.     Just  be- 
fore leaving  Africa  he  purchased,  by  the  advice  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  church  mission- 
ary board,  a  mission-residence  in  Freetown,   for 
the    purpose   of  affording    a   comfortable    place 


134  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

for  our  missionaries  when  there,  which  neces- 
sarily is  more  or  less  frequent,  as  that  is  the 
place  at  which  laborers  land  in  going  to  the 
mission,  where  they  embark  when  they  return, 
and  where  they  receive  and  mail  letters,  do 
more  or  less  trading,  and  frequently  go  for 
medical  treatment.  This  would  have  been  of 
great  service  could  we  have  retained  it;  but  owing 
to  straitened  circumstances,  it  had  to  be  sold  a 
few  years  afterward,  to  enable  the  Board  to  meet 
the  current  expenses  of  the  mission. 

For  over  six  months  there  were  no  missionaries 
on  the  ground.  In  January,  1857,  Rev.  J.  K. 
Billheimer,  Dr.  William  B.  Witt,  and  the  writer 
landed  in  Freetown,  the  two  former  as  permanent 
laborers  and  the  latter  for  the  special  object  of  in- 
ducing, if  possible,  Mr.  Caulker  to  consent  to  the 
establishment  of  a  mission  in  or  near  the  town  of 
Shengay.  Several  years  before,  Mr.  Caulker  had 
been  driven  out  of  his  town  and  country  by  his  en- 
emies in  war;  and  he  knew  he  could  return  only  at 
the  peril  of  his  life.  lie  finally  granted  permis- 
sion to  commence  a  mission  near  his  town,  more 
for  the  reason  that  this  would  give  him  security 
there  than  from  any  other  consideration ;  and  in 
this  he  realized  his  expectations,  for  soon  after 
the  mission  was  opened  he  returned  to  Shengay, 
and  there  was  permitted  to  end  his  days  in  peace. 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  135 

Mr.  Caulker's  consent  was  obtained  in  tlie  month 
of  March ;  but  the  rainy  season  being  close  at  hand, 
nothing  was  attempted  until  the  beginning  of  the 
dry  season,  about  seven  or  eight  months  afterward. 
Pending  the  negotiations  with  Mr.  Caulker  the 
writer  went  to  Liberia  and  spent  near  a  month 
there,  visiting  the  chief  points  of  interest  in  that 
young  republic,  especially  places  along  the  St. 
Pauls  River,  as  far  as  it  is  navigable.  He  fully 
satisfied  himself  that  Shengay  was  more  healthy, 
and  in  other  respects  preferable  to  it  as  a  mission- 
field;  and  this  is  true  of  all  the  country  he  was 
permitted  to  see  during  the  four  different  times  he 
was  in  Africa,  embracing  the  entire  coast  from 
Goree  to  Liberia.  God  greatly  favored  us  in 
giving  us  so  good  a  location.  And  no  less  marked 
was  his  goodness  shown  us  as  a  church  in  raising 
up  when  he  did  the  gifted,  zealous,  and  eloquent 
Rev.  J.  C.  Bright,  corresponding  secretary  of 
our  Board  of  Missions  at  the  time  the  African 
mission  was  commenced,  through  whose  untiring 
and  efiJective  labors  the  Church  was  aroused  to 
engage  actively  in  the  work  of  missions,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  who  never  allowed  any 
obstacle  to  weaken  his  zeal  in  favor  of  projecting 
and  prosecuting  the  mission  in  Africa. 


136  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

SHENGAY    MISSION-STATION. 

A  brief  description  of  Shengay  Station,  which 
has  been  and  will  doubtless  continue  to  be  head- 
quarters of  Sherbro  Mission  for  years  to  come, 
with  some  of  its  surroundings,  will  be  both  in- 
teresting and  profitable  to  all  who  read  this  book. 
It  is  a  cape  on  the  mainland,  containing  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  lying  between  the 
seventh  and  eighth  degree  of  north  latitude,  and 
about  sixty  miles  south  from  the  city  of  Freetown. 
Its  altitude  is  about  twenty  feet  above  ocean  at 
high  tide,  which,  with  the  fact  that  it  is  surround- 
ed on  three  sides  by  salt-water,  makes  it  quite  a 
healthy  and  beautiful  place.  A  few  rods  to  the 
west  of  the  northern  point  of  the  cape  lies 
^Williams  Island,  and  about  three  miles  to  the 
north-west  are  the  Plantain  Islands,  three  in  num- 
ber, the  largest  having  been  the  head-quarters  of 
Mr.  John  Newton,  a  daring  and  cruel  slave-trader 
at  one  time,'_and  afterward  a  noted  and  successful 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  137 

minister  of  the  gospel.      The  ruins  of  his   slave- 
pen  are  still  there. 

The  mission-land,  and  that  occupied  by  the 
Sherbro  tribe,  is  mostly  well  adapted  to  the 
growth  of  coffee,  cotton,  sugar-cane,  arrow-root, 
ginger,  rice,  yams,  cocoa,  sweet-potato,  cassada, 
oranges,  bananas,  plantains,  figs,  olives,  cocoa-nuts, 
African  grapes,  plums,  tamarinds,  guava,  papaws, 
pine-apples,  sour-sop,  sweet-sop,  and  other  varieties 
of  fruits  and  vegetables.  There  are  on  the  mission- 
premises  an  abundance  of  rock  and  timber  for 
building  purposes,  among  them  many  palm  and 
other  valuable  trees.  It  is  altogether  a  desirable 
place,  and  of  easy  access. 

The  town  of  Shengay,  where  the  principal  chief 
of  the  Sherbro  tribe  resides,  is  but  one  half  mile 
from  our  mission-buildings.  It  being  the  metrop- 
olis  of  the  Sherbro  country,  and  so  near  the  mis- 
sion, it  is  superior  to  ordinary  African  towns,  es- 
pecially the  newer  portions  of  it,  where  there  are 
streets,  which  is  quite  an  unusual  thing  in  native- 
built  towns.  ITear  its  center  is  Zion  Chapel,  a 
house  built  for  the  mission  by  Chief  Caulker 
and  his  people,  in  which  both  a  day  and  Sab- 
bath school,  as  well  as  regular  religious  services, 
are  held,  the  only  place  where  these  could  be  con- 
ducted properly,  in  or  near  Shengay,  before  the 
completion  of  the  new  stone  chapel  on  the  mission- 


138  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ground  two  years  ago.  This  excellent  church  ed- 
ifice, 30  by  45  feet,  with  the  missionary  residence 
32  by  40  feet  in  size,  equally  as  substantial,  both 
having  stone  walls  and  slate  roofs,  with  several 
native-built  houses  occupied  by  boatmen  and  la- 
borers, constitute  Shengay  mission-station  build- 
ings. The  first  building  erected  was  a  frame 
chapel,  24  by  30  feet,  which  was  shipped  there 
from  New  York  City,  all  ready  to  be  put  up,  in 
the  fall  of  1857.  This  was  put  upon  stone  pillars 
about  seven  feet  high,  under  the  supervision  of 
Mr.  Billheimer,  he  lodging  in  a  native-built  mud- 
hut  while  it  was  being  done.  The  space  was  divided 
into  three  apartments,  one  room,  20  by  24  feet  in 
size,  being  used  for  school  and  meeting,  and  the  re- 
maining space  divided  into  two  rooms  of  equal  size, 
the  one  for  the  missionary  bed-room  and  the  other 
for  the  store.  The  cooking  was  done  in  a  native- 
built  house  close  by,  the  hours  for  eating  then,  as 
now,  being  from  9  to  10  o'clock  and  from  5  to  6 
o'clock;  and  the  day-school  was  in  session  from  11 
to  3  o'clock  ,This  building  was  intended  to  be 
used  exclusively  for  chapel  and  school-room  as 
soon  as  a  residence  could  be  erected,  which  was 
commenced  by  Mr.  Billheimer  the  following  year  ; 
but  the  society  not  receiving  the  money  with  which 
to  proceed,  it  was  not  finished  for  several  years 
afterward.     This  house,  put  up  amidst  much  dis- 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  139 

couragement  upon  the  part  of  Mr.  Billheimer,  is 
admirably  adapted  to  the  use  for  which  it  was 
erected,  and  with  the  kitchen  and  veranda  since 
added  furnishes  excellent  accommodations  for 
from  four  to  six  missionaries.  With  care  and 
some  repairs,  it  will  be  a  comfortable  house  for 
the  next  fifty  years.  The  same  is  true  of  the  new 
stone  chapel.  These  substantial,  commodious,  and 
well-arranged  buildings,  with  the  grand  scenery, 
both  on  land  and  the  sea,  make  the  mission-prem- 
ises an  exceedingly  lovely  spot.  "Beautiful  for 
situation,  the  joy  of  all  who  behold  it,"  is  Shengay 
Mission-Station.  The  patient,  persevering,  and 
self-sacrificing  labors  of  those  who  gathered  the 
material,  and  had  it  prepared  and  put  together  so 
as  to  constitute  these  good  houses,  deserve  to  be  held 
in  remembrance  by  those,  both  in  America  and 
Africa,  in  whose  behalf  they  were  built.  To  Mr. 
Billheimer  belongs  the  honor  of  superintending 
the  erection  of  the  first  chapel,  and  the  only  mis- 
sionary residence  we  have  ever  had  at  Shengay, 
which  he  did  well. 


140  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

DR.   WITT   AND  REV.   J.   A.   WILLIAMS. 

Dr.  Witt,  who  accompanied  Mr.  Billlieimer  to 
Africa,  spent  most  of  his  time  at  one  of  the  stations 
of  the  Mendi  missions  and  in  Freetown,  during  the 
year  and  a  half  he  remained  in  that  country. 
Being  well  skilled  in  the  science  of  medicine,  a 
fluent  preacher,  and  a  warm-hearted  Christian,  he 
had  the  qualifications  in  a  pre-eminent  degree  to  he 
useful  in  any  country,  both  to  the  bodies  and  souls 
of  men,  which  he  was  to  the  degraded  sons  and 
daughters  of  Africa.  At  the  time  he  received  his 
appointment  to  Africa  he  was  practicing  medicine 
in  Cincinnati,  and  held  a  professorship  in  one  of 
its  medical  colleges.  He  also  found  time  to  preach 
frequently,  and  was  in  a  pre-eminent  sense  a  zeal- 
ous doer  of  good  works. 

Mr.  Billheimer  having  been  alone  at  Shen- 
gay  from  the  commencement  of  the  work 
there  till  the  beginning  of  the  year  1859, 
he  souo-ht  and   obtained  the    services    of    Rev. 


KJ-V     \V[LLI\M   lURlON   \M  1  I 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  141 

J.  A.  Williams,  a  native  of  Africa,  who  had  heen 
educated  in  one  of  the  mission-schools  in  Free- 
town. This  man  rendered  valuable  service  for 
over  ten  years.  He  was  left  in  charge  of  the 
entire  work  a  number  of  times,  varying  in  length 
from  six  months  to  two  years.  But  for  his  faith- 
fulness and  diligence  in  caring  for  the  welfare  of 
the  mission,  and  preserving  the  mission-property, 
when  the  society  could  neither  find  laborers  nor 
money  to  carry  forward  the  work  properly,  the 
probability  is  that  the  buildings  as  well  as  the 
reputation  of  the  mission  would  have  been  injured 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  have  led  to  the  abandon- 
ment of  that  work.  In  this  and  a  number  of 
other  instances  equally  striking,  the  leadings  of 
providence  may  be  seen  in  a  very  remarkable 
manner. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1859,  Mr.  Billheimcr  was 
compelled  to  return  to  America  to  recruit  his 
health  ;  and  while  here  he  did  good  service  for 
Sherbro  Mission,  lecturing  on  Africa.  He  remain- 
ed until  June,  1860,  when  he  returned  to  Africa  ; 
and  his  return  was  hailed  with  expressions  of  great 
joy  by  his  former  associates  and  acquaintances 
there.  Mr.  Williams  was  in  charge  of  the  work 
during  his  absence,  and  was  the  only  laborer  there. 
He  taught  the  school,  and  kept  up  regular  religious 
services  most  of  the  time  with  good  results. 


142  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

RELIGIOUS  AWAKENING,  FIRST  CONVERTS 

For  some  time^before  Mr.  Williams  commenced 
work  at  the  mission,  and  up  till  the  time  Mr. 
Billheimer  returned  to  America,  in  the  summer 
of  1859,  there  existed  a  religious  awakening 
among  some  of  the  young  people  who  attended  the 
day  and  Sabbath  schools,  and  sanctuary  services. 
Mr.  Billheimer  reported  a  class  of  ten  persons  who 
were  seeking  the  Lord,  some  of  them  very  earnestly. 
Among  the  number  were  Miss  Lucy  Caulker  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Tucker,  who  were  happily  converted. 
Thomas  was  a  young  man,  twenty  or  more  years 
of  age.  Lucy  was  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of 
Shengay,  and  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  Her 
parents  both  opposed  her,  and  at  times  bitterly;  but 
she  was  steadfast  in  her  adherence  to  Christ.  It 
was  not  long  until  her  father  sold  her,  to  become 
the  wife  of  a  white  man,  who  took  her  sixty  miles 
from  Shengay,  to  his  trading-station.  It  is 
thought  the  old  chief  did  this  to  cause  her  to 
abandon  a  religious  life ;  but  whether  this  was  so 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  143 

or  not,  she  contiuued  to  hold  fast  her  profession 
of  faitli,  without  wavering,  and  does  to  this  day. 
Chief  Caulker  himself  became  a  Christian  a 
few  years  afterward,  and  died.  A  few  months 
after  his  conversion  Lucy  (then  Mrs.  Reamy)  em- 
braced the  opportunity  to  free  herself  from  what 
she  regarded  as  an  unholy  alliance.  She  proposed 
to  her  so-called  husband  that  they  should  now  be 
married  according  to  Christian  usage  or  she 
would  return  to  her  native  town,  which  she  did 
while  he  was  on  a  visit  to  his  friends  in  England. 
She  went  to  work  in  earnest  to  build  her  a  com- 
fortable house,  which  by  her  good  management  and 
industry  was  soon  accomplished,  and  in  which 
she  lived  until  about  one  year  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Heamy,  which  took  place  the  first  of  the  year 
1875,  when  she  was  married  again.  From  the 
time  she  left  Mr.  Reamy  until  his  death  he  gave 
her  a  little  financial  help,  to  enable  her  to  educate 
their  four  children,  which  she  was  attending  to 
well.  She  was  an  excellent  Christian  worker 
while  at  Shengay ;  and  since  her  removal  the  last 
time  she  is  reported  as  being  faithful  and  earnest 
in  her  endeavors  to  lead  others  to  accept  of  Christ 
as  their  Savior. 

Mr.  Thomas  Tucker,  who  when  he  first  came 
to  the  mission  was  an  exceedingly  ignorant 
and  unpromising  youth,  has  from  the  first  been  a 


144  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

devoted  friend  of  the  mission;  and  for  some  years, 
especially  the  last  four  or  five,  he  has  been  a  con- 
sistent, energetic,  and  influential  Christian.  He 
had  severe  persecution  to  endure  and  bitter  op- 
position to  overcome  at  the  beginning  of  his 
Christian  life,  which  thoroughly  tested  the  gen- 
uineness of  his  religion.  Though  not  without 
fault,  he  certainly  has  done  Veil,  and  is  now  an  ex- 
emplary Christian.  His  services  as  foreman  of  the 
mission-hands,  and  as  captain  of  the  mission-boat, 
have  been  very  reliable.  As  these  names,  and  es- 
pecially Mr.  Tucker's  name,  will  be  mentioned 
commendably  several  times  in  the  succeeding 
pages  of  this  book,  in  extracts  from  letters  writ- 
ten by  missionaries,  nothing  further  will  be  said 
respecting  them  here. 

As  these  two  persons  were  the  only  ones  who 
were  fully  brought  to  Christ  during  the  first  relig- 
ious awakening,  and  the  only  converts  in  connec- 
tion with  Shengay  Mission-  Station  from  its 
commencement,  in  1857,  till  about  six  or  seven 
years  ago,  it  may  be  well  to  inquire  why  there 
were  no  others.  It  will  be  remembered  that  at 
that  time  there  were  quite  a  number  of  anxious 
persons  so  far  awakened  as  to  cause  them  to  man- 
ifest an  earnest  desire  to  know  what  to  do  to  be 
saved ;  that  there  was  but  one  missionary 
there,  whose  labors   were  frequently  interrupted 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  145 

by  sickness,  and  who  was  compelled  to  return  to 
America  to  recruit  his  health  soon  after  such  relig- 
ious interest  was  commenced.  Had  there  been  a 
sufficient  force  there  to  carry  forward  the 
work  so  well  begun,  doubtless  there  would  have' 
been  q[uite  a  number  brought  to  Christ.  At 
different  times  subsequently  there  were  excel- 
lent prospects  for  a  glorious  revival  of  religion, 
but  on  account  of  the  absence  of  the  missionary  for 
weeks  together,  and  sometimes  of  his  wife  also,  be- 
cause of  his  severe  illness,  the  field  so  ripe  for  a 
glorious  harvest  of  souls  was  not  reaped.  This 
was  a  source  of  deep  regret  upon  the  part  of  a 
number  of  our  missionaries,  and  oft  repeated  by 
one  of  them  in  his  letters  from  Africa,  and 
frequently  after  he  returned  to  America, 
when  he  often  remarked,  and  almost  with  his 
dying  breath,  "Don't  send  any  missionaries  to 
Africa  again  until  you  are  able  to  keep  from  three 
to  four  there  all  the  time." 

One  thing  is  clearly  established,  namely:  much 
was  lost  because  we  had  so  few  laborers  in  Africa, 
and  so  little  money  to  sustain  them  during  the  first 
fifteen  years  of  our  occupancy  of  that  field.  With 
but  one  missionary  in  the  field,  and  part  of  the  time 
a  native  helper  only,  much  of  the  good  done  was  lost. 
The  responsibility  of  having  so  small  a  force  there 
must  rest  with  those  who  might  have  prevented  it. 

10 


146  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XL. 

WHAT  WAS  DONE  FROM  1860  TO  1870. 

Ill  the  year  1860  Rev.  Charles  0.  "Wilson  accepted 
au  appointment  to  Sherbro  Mission,  and  reached 
it  in  the  month  of  November.  After  spending  a 
short  time  at  Shengaj  he  returned  to  Freetown  on 
business,  and  became  seriously  ill  with  the  African 
fever,  which  kept  him  there  for  about  one  month, 
when  he  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  come 
home,  which  he  did  on  the  recommendation  of 
his  physician,  who  declared  it  to  be  necessary  to 
save  his  life.  This  was  a  great  disappointment, 
both  to  Mr.  "Wilson  and  the  Board  of  Missions, 
and  an  additional  discouragement  to  the  friends 
of  that  mission.  For  fear  that  the  Church  would 
be  dissatisfied  with  his  course,  and  withhold  money 
and  sympathy  from  that  work  on  account  of  his 
returning  without  rendering  any  service,  he  gener- 
ously proposed  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  trip, 
which  he  did. 

This  left  Mr.  Billhcimer  and  Mr.  Williams,  the 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  147 

native  helper,  alone  again,  which,  with  other  dis- 
couraging features  connected  with  the  work, 
caused  Mr.  Billheimer  to  write  the  following: 
"  Mr.  Wilson  is  compelled  to  return  home.  We 
owe  Mr.  Heddle  a  large  sum  of  money.  My  own 
health  is  so  precarious  that  I  shall  have  to  leave 
soon ;  and  altogether,  the  news  to  you  is  sad.  I 
fear  and  tremble."  Mr.  Billheimer's  health  im- 
proved some,  and  he  was  enabled  to  remain  a  year 
after  the  date  of  this  letter  before  coming  to 
America. 

Owing  to  a  lack  of  money  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  mission,  and  our  place  near  Shengay  proving 
to  be  more  healthy  than  was  expected,  there  was 
less  necessity  to  retain  the  Freetown  property, 
and  much  need  for  the  money  in  it.  Mr.  Billheimer 
was  accordingly  instructed  to  sell  it.  He  soon 
found  a  purchaser;  but  owing  to  the  technicalitiea 
of  Sierra  Leone  law,  and  the  unwillingness  of  some 
interested  parties  to  do  right,  he  was  unable  to 
give  a  good  title  for  it.  After  doing  all  that  his 
legal  advisers  suggested,  he  still  failed  to  satisfy 
the  purchasers.  Early  in  the  year  1861  he  wrote 
home  that  he  had  done  his  utmost,  but  could  not 
adjust  the  difficulty;  and  in  a  few  months  after- 
ward he  came  to  America  to  recruit  his  health, 
again  leaving  the  misson  in  charge  of  Mr.  Williams. 

To  make  some  disposition  of  this  property  so  as 


148  MISSIONARY    LIFE 


« 


to  get  money,  and  to  take  care  of  other  interests 
connected  with  the  mission,  the  writer  made  a 
third  voyage  to  Africa  in  the  fall  of  1861,  return- 
ing the  next  spring.  This  trip  cost  the  Church 
no  money.  It  was  attended  with  much  peril  by 
sea,  and  vexation  and  trial  in  Africa,  but  proved 
entirely  successful  in  accomplishing  the  end  for 
which  it  was  made.  The  conspiracy  in  Freetown 
(for  such  it  was)  to  defraud  the  mission  of  the 
property  there,  by  the  interposition  of  a  kind 
Providence  did  not  succeed.  The  property  was 
sold,  and  the  money  obtained  with  which  to  pay 
most  of  the  debts  of  the  mission,  and  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  future  operations. 

In  the  summer  of  1862  Mr.  Billheimer  was 
married  to  Miss  Amanda  L.  Ilanby,  daughter  of  Ex- 
bishop  Hanby,  and  the  following  September  himself 
and  wife  sailed  for  the  field  he  had  left  the  pre- 
vious year.  They  were  permitted  to  pursue  their 
labors  about  two  years,  when  failing  health 
compelled  them  to  return  to  America.  Again  the 
work  was  left  in  charge  of  Mr.  Williams  for  nearly 
one  and  a  half  years.  During  this  time  several 
persons  received  and  accepted  appointments  to 
go  to  that  field,  but  for  various  reasons  none  of 
them   went. 

In  the  fall  of  1866  Rev.  Oliver  Hadley  and  wife 
were  appointed  to  go,  and  reached  the  mission  the 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  149 

following  December.  Tliey  found  the  buildings  in 
bad  condition ;  and  there  was  also  strong  opposition 
to  our  operations  there  upon  the  part  of  Chief 
Caulker  and  other  influential  citizens  of  Shengay, 
and  the  neighboring  towns.  Various  reasons  were 
assigned  for  this,  chief  of  which  they  evidently  did 
not  mention,  namely,  a  desire  to  see  the  mission 
fail.  Then,  too,  they  soon  found  out  that  the  influ- 
ence of  Mohammedanism,  purrowism,  polygamists, 
slave-holders,  and  the  advocates  of  the  liquor- 
traffic  were  against  them  and  the  work  they 
sought  to  accomplish.  These  combined,  with  the 
deep  degradation  of  the  people,  constituted 
altogether  an  unfavorable  state  of  affairs.  The 
traffic  in  ardent  spirits  is  held  in  high  esteem  there 
by  many,  and  for  the  same  reason  as  here,  name- 
ly, the  money  that  is  in  it.  Slave-holders,  there 
as  elsewhere,  know  that  when  slaves  become  edu- 
cated and  enlightened  they  are  not  so  easily  kept 
in  bondage.  Polygamists  can  not  see  the  wrong 
there  is  in  one  man  having  from  two  to  twenty 
so-called  wives  so  long  as  they  may  be  used  as 
slaves,  to  labor  and  procure  for  him  a  livelihood. 
Purrowism,  which  has  exerted  such  a  wonderful 
influence  over  the  people,  must  continue  its  secret^ 
cruel,  and  diabolical  work;  and  African  Moham- 
medans, as  they  can  read  the  Arabic,  and  allow 
Buch  abominations  as  slavery,  polygamy,  gregree- 


150         •  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

worship,  aud  uearly  all  the  evils  proliibited  in  the 
decalogue,  do  not  find  it  hard  to  make  the 
people  believe  that  their  religion  is  as  good  as  that 
of  Christians.  With  all  these  things  before  him, 
Mr.  Hadley  saw  clearly  the  sad  condition  of  tho 
heathen,  and  the  obstacles  to  be  removed  to  win 
them  to  Christ. 

"With  a  firm  faith  in  the  power  of  the  gospel, 
he  and  his  wife,  who  was  his  equal  in  eliective 
evangelical  labor,  commenced,  and  continued  their 
labors  about  a  year  and  a  half,  when  he  wrote  the 
following  hopeful  letter:  "  Our  Sabbath-school  is 
more  interesting,  and  numbers  now  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  persons.  Our  prayer-meetings  and 
Bible-class  have  been  very  good.  Five  persons 
whom  .we  had  hoped  to  see  converted  soon  are 
for  the  present  out  of  our  reach ;  but  another  has 
lately  given  evidence  of  distress,  on  account  of 
sin.  We  rejoice  at  every  indication  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  working  in  the  dark  hearts  of  this 
people." 

The  labors  of  this  excellent  missionary  ter- 
minated at  the  end  of  two  and  a  half  years,  when 
his  rapidly-declining  health  compelled  him  to  re- 
turn to  America  in  the  spring  of  1869.  He  and 
his  wife  reached  their  home  in  Indiana,  April 
2l8t,  and  one  week  afterward  he  died.  During  the 
few  days  they  remained  with  us  in  Dayton,  Ohio, 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  151 

he  conversed  freely  respecting  tlie  future  of  Slier- 
bro  Mission,  as  far  as  strength  permitted  him  to  do 
so.     He  knew  he  must  die  soon ;  and  though  his 
words  were  always  spoken  with  great  sincerity, 
yet  now  they  were  more  so  than  usual,  and  pos- 
sessed great  unction.     He  insisted  on  keeping  from 
three  to  four  laborers  in  the  field  all  the  time;  show- 
ed how  much  of  the  good  that  is  done  is  lost  with 
but  one  or  two  there,  who  on   account  of  neces- 
sary absence  on  business,  and  on  account  of  sick- 
ness, could  not  work   to  advantage.     The   dying 
testimony  of  this  devoted   Christian  missionary, 
with  the  fact  that  he  died  so  soon  after  his  return 
to  America,  were  regarded  by  some  as  evidence  that 
Sherbro  Mission  ought  to  be  discontinued,  instead 
of  a  loud  call  for  greater  zeal  and  liberality  in  its 
prosecution.   Several  years  previous,  a  considerable 
number  of  our  people  demanded  its  discontinuance, 
and  now  it  looked  as  though  this  might  be  done. 
With  a  divided  feeling  as  to  what  disposition  to 
make  of  this  mission,  the  question  was  carried  to 
the  General  Conference  of  1869,  which,  after  care- 
ful  investigation,  advised  that  the  door  be  kept 
wide    open    for  its    continuance,  and  that  it  be 
manned   again   as  soon  as  men  and  money  could 
be  obtained  to  do  it. 

From  the  time  Mr.  Hadley  and  wife  left  Africa, 
in  1869,  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Williams  in  July, 


152  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

1870,  he  had  the  entire  charge  of  it  again.  The 
last  two  missionaries  dead,  and  none  ready  to  take 
their  places,  it  looked  as  though  the  demand  to 
abandon  that  field  had  become  a  necessity.  As 
long  as  we  had  a  trustworthy  native  worker  on  the 
ground  we  had  something,  but  now  that  he  is  gone, 
and  no  one  to  take  his  place,  we  had  better  quit, 
said  those  who  wished  it  discontinued.  These 
gloomy  days  in  the  history  of  Sherbro  Mission, 
and  especially  the  fact  that  by  the  death  of  Mr. 
"Williams  we  were  without  a  single  representative 
in  that  dark  land,  with  its  multiplied  millions  of 
deeply  degraded  heathen,  affected  others  quite  dif- 
ferently, who  now  had  a  greater  zeal  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  mission  than  they  ever  had  before. 
Among:  this  number  was  one  of  the  officers  of  the 
society,  who  urged  the  appointment  of  a  man  and 
his  wife  to  go  with  him  to  Africa,  which  proposi- 
tion resulted  not  in  his  going  then,  but  in  their 
being  sent  in  ISTovember,  1870.  Their  names  were 
first  presented  to  the  committee  soon  after  the  intel- 
lig-ence  reached  us  that  Mr.  "Williams  was  dead ; 
but  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  brother  was  not  a  min- 
ister, and  with  little  evidence  that  they  would  make 
Bnccessful  missionaries,  the  committee  had  deferred 
action  until  the  month  of  October.  This  man  is 
now  an  ordained  minister  in  the  United  Brethren 
Church,  and  has  proved  to  be  among  the  most 


IN  "WESTERN   AFRIOA.  153 

successful  missionaries  it  has.  The  same  is  true 
of  his  wife,  whose  services  have  done  much  to 
make  Sherbro  Mission  so  highly  successful  daring 
the  last  few  years. 


154  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XLT. 

MR.  GOMER  AND  WIFE  AND    MR.  EVANS  SENT  TO  AFRICA, 
MRS.  HADLEY'S    return. 

Mr.  Joseph  Gomer  and  wife,  whose  appointment 
to  Africa  was  referred  to  at  the  close  of  the  last 
chapter,  did  not  reach  the  mission  until  January, 
1871,  having  heen  detained  a  short  time  in 
Liverpool.  They  found  that  the  buiklings  and 
premises  were  damaged  for  want  of  attention.  Mr. 
Williams,  who  had  left  the  mission  for  a  month  or 
two  previous  to  his  death,  to  attend  to  some  busi- 
ness engagements  down  the  country,  was  never 
permitted  to  return  to  Shengay.  He  left  the  build- 
ings and  grounds  in  charge  of  a  native,  who  paid 
but  little  attention  to  them. 

While  Mr.  Gomer  was  discouraged  at  finding 
these  things  in  such  sad  plight^  he  yet  was  greatly 
encouraged  by  a  much  more  friendly  feeling  of  the 
people  to  the  prosecution  of  the  mission  than  thoy 
liad  formerly  shown.  God  had  been  working 
among  the  people  in  a  marked  manner  witliout  a 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA,  155 

missionary,  or  it  may  be  by  the  death   of  the  two 
who  ^ast  labored  in  their  midst.     At  all  events, 
they  showed  a  greater  willingness  to  listen  to  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  and  a  higher  appreciation 
of  its  benefits  than  ever  before.     In  a  few  months 
Mr.  Caulker,  the  chief  of  the  country,  and  head- 
man of  Shengay,  requested  tliat  meetings  be  held 
regulary   in  his  town  as  well  as  at  the  mission- 
house,  which — owing  to   the  destruction   of   our 
first  chapel  by  bug-a-bugs— was  now  the  only  place 
on  our  premises  in  which  to  hold  them.     He  at- 
tended them  himself  when  held  in  Shengay,  even 
while  so   feeble  as  to  have  to  be   carried  to  the 
place ;  and  instead  of  forbidding  his  people,  espe- 
cially slaves,  from  being  present,  as  he  once  did,  he 
now  advised,  and  sometimes  required  them  to  at- 
tend the  meetings  and  the  Sabbath-school.     The 
result  was,  large  numbers  were  present  to  hear  Mr. 
Gomer  preach,  and  to  witness  all  the  exercises  at 
Bible-class  and  prayer-meeting.    Mr.  Caulker  him- 
self became  a  sincere  inquirer  after  truth,  and  in 
due  time  an  earnest  penitent,  as  well  as  Christian; 
and  he,  with  a  number  of  others,  publicly  renounc- 
ed heathenism  and  professed  faith  in  Christ.    Some 
went  back  to  the  world,  but  not  a  larger  per  cent 
than    is    usual    under   similar    circumstances    in 
America.     The   chief   only  lived   a  few   months 
after  his  conversion,  he  being  quite  old.    He  died 


15G  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

August  15,  1871,  in  the  faith  of  the  gospeL  His 
last  words  spoken  in  English  were,  "Salvation  only- 
through  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  merciful."  A  few 
moments  before  his  death  he  spoke  of  God,  and 
prayed  in  the  Sherbro  language. 

Mrs.  Hadley,  who  continued  to  manifest  much 
interest  in  the  mission  ever  since  her  connection 
with  it,  now  indicated  her  willingness  to  return  to 
it,  which  proposal  met  with  the  hearty  approval  of 
the  Executive  Committee,  who  also  appointed  Eev. 
J.  A.  Evans  to  that  field  shortly  afterward.  They 
reached  Shengay,  December  9, 1871.  Their  safe 
arrival  there  was  a  source  of  much  comfort  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Comer,  who  now  had  much  more  to  do 
than  they  could  possibly  attend  to  properly. 
Equally  great  was  the  joy  of  Mrs.  Hadley  to  have 
the  privilege  of  meeting  the  people  again  for  whom 
she  had  labored  so  zealously  in  other  years,  and 
for  whose  welfare  she  felt  such  deep  solicitude. 
The  following,  taken  from  her  first  letter  after 
landing  at  the  mission,  shows  how  she  felt  in  view 
of  the  marked  change  which  had  taken  place 
during  her  absence: 

"  I  am  thankful  to  God  for  permitting  me  to  see 
the  wonderful  change  which  has  taken  place  liero 
since  I  left  for  America.  The  speaking  and  pray- 
er meetings,  and  the  Sabbath-school,  are  very 
interesting.     I  am  encouraged  to  hear  some  bear 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  157 

witness  that  the  seed  of  other  years'  planting  has 
not  been  entirely  lost.  Brother  Gomer  has  scat- 
tered much  religious  truth  broadcast,  a  good  deal 
of  which  is  taking  root  in  good  ground.  My 
heart  has  been  filled  with  joy  and  gladness  while 
hearing  these  new  converts  speak  and  pray." 

Ten  days  after  she  reached  the  mission,  Mr. 
Gomer  wrote,  "There  were  sixty-five  scholars  at 
Sabbath-school  yesterday.  We  have  determined 
to  build  a  country  chapel  in  Shengay.  Mr.  Caul- 
l^er — a  son  of  the  old  chief  who  died  six  months 
previous,  and  his  successor  in  office, — and  his  peo- 
ple will  help  do  it.  Our  plan  of  operation  is 
not  yet  perfected.  Brother  Evans  and  I  will 
preach  alternately  here.  He  will  keep  books  and 
accounts,  and  I  will  have  charge  of  the  laborers. 
Mrs.  Gomer  will  have  charge  of  the  mission-res- 
idence, and  Mrs.  Hadley  and  Thomas  Caulker 
will  manage  the  school;  and  she  will  have  a  sewing- 
class." 

The  four  missionaries  found  plenty  to  do — 
Messrs.  Gomer  and  Evans  giving  some  attention  to 
the  new  chapel  which  was  building,  and  Mrs.  Had- 
ley and  Mrs.  Gomer  frequently  conducting  the 
meetings,  which  they  did  successfully.  At  times 
a  remarkable  religious  interest  pervaded  all  who 
came  within  the  bounds  of  the  mission.  This 
divine  influence  extended  to   neighboring  towns, 


158  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

and  a  few  were  induced  to  observe  for  a  time 
some  of  the  institutions  of  Christianity,  such  as 
keeping  the  Sabbath.  Occasionally  they  got 
things  so  mixed  as  to  observe  Saturday  or  Mon- 
day in  place  of  Sabbath,  until  they  were  set  right 
by  some  one  who  knew  the  time  correctly. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  159 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

ANOTHER   CHAPEL   NEEDED,   APPOINTMENT   OF  MR. 
WARNER   AND   WIFE. 

A  year  or  two  previous  to  this  time  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  had  determined  to  erect  a  new 
stone  chapel,  and  appealed  to  the  friends  of  Africa 
to  forward,  as  a  special  contribution,  the  amount 
needed  for  this  purpose.  Funds  for  this  object  had 
accumulated  until  nearly  enough  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  missionary  treasurer,  and  now  the  chapel 
w^as  needed.  The  one  just  finished  in  Shengay  be- 
ing a  country -built  house,  would  need  repairs  every 
year  or  two,  and  would  only  serve  a  temporary 
purpose  at  best.  Besides,  something  might  occur 
to  make  it  impracticable  to  hold  school  and  meet- 
ings in  the  town  of  Shengay,  and  with  a  perma- 
nent chapel  upon  the  mission-premises  our 
operations  could  not  be  interfered  with.  Every- 
thing indicated  that  the  new  chapel  ought  to  be 
put  up  soon  as  possible. 

The  four  missionaries  already  there  having  all 
that  they  could   do,  especially  in  view  of  com- 


IGO  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

menciiig  a  second  mission-station  about  fifteen 
miles  to  the  south  of  Shengay,  at  which  place  they 
had  been  preaching  as  frequently  as  was  consistent 
with  other  duties,  there  was  a  necessity  for  addi- 
tional laborers.  Accordingly,  Rev.  Peter  Warner 
and  wife  were  appointed  in  September,  1872,  and 
sailed  the  following  month.  Mr.  Warner's  special 
business  was  to  superintend  the  erection  of  the 
new  chapel,  which  was  the  principal  work  he  did 
while  there.  The  building  is  30  by  45  feet  in  size, 
and  cost  about  $3,000,  including  the  expense  of 
sending  Mr.  "Warner,  and  seating  and  painting, 
which  was  not  done  till  the  spring  of  1875,  "when 
it  was  dedicated. 

The  promptness  with  which  funds  were  given  for 
this  house  showed  that  a  larger  number  of  people 
in  the  United  Brethren  Church  were  interested  in 
the  African  mission  than  was  generally  supposed. 
The  call  made  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
asking  for  voluntary  contributions,  was  published 
in  our  church  papers.  Contributions  were  sent, 
varying  in  amount  from  twenty-five  cents  to  five 
dollars;  and  in  a  very  few  instances  larger  amounts 
were  sent — a  single  congregation,  or  Sabbath- 
school,  not  unfrequently  giving  from  twenty  to 
thirty  dollars.  It  is  within  the  bounds  of  truth 
to  say  that  from  thirty  to  forty  thousand  people 
contributed  money  to  build  that  house. 


IN  WESTEBN  AFRICA.  161 


CIlAPTEli  XLIII. 

HOW   TWO    CHIEFS   WHO    WERE   AT   ENMITk    BECAME 
RECONCILED. 

Besides  the  wonderful  work  of  grace  at  Slien- 
gay  during  the  year  1872  another  remarkable 
event  took  place  near  its  close,  which  exerted  a 
favorable  influence  in  behalf  of  the  mission,  and 
gave  the  missionaries,  especially  Mr.  Gomer,  more 
power  over  the  people  than  they  ever  had  before. 
Mr.  George  Caulker,  and  Mr.  Richard  CJiulker  his 
cousin,  are  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Sherbro 
tribe ;  but  they  had  been  bitter  enemies  for 
about  six  years.  This  kept  the  country  in  con- 
stant unrest  and  trouble.  Other  sub-chiefs  and 
influential  head-men  had  taken  sides  in  this  quar- 
rel, and  hence  large  numbers  of  the  people  were 
in  opposition  to  each  other.  The  result  was,  fre- 
quent wars,  and  rumors  of  wars,  and  difliculties 
of  smaller  import,  between  the  contending  parties. 

Mr,  Lefever,  a  colored  man,  a  subject  of  the 
colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  Mr.  Gomer,  feeling 
II 


162  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

that  the  cause  of  humanity  and  Christianity  de- 
manded that  the  unhappy  strife  should  end,  un- 
dertook to  reconcile  these  belligerent  spirits.  In 
the  face  of  numerous  and  seemingly  immovable 
obstacles,  and  much  delay  and  peril,  they  finally 
succeeded  in  getting  them  together,  and  to  agree  to 
bury  their  past  difterences  and  be  friends.  This 
was  done  in  the  presence  of  several  hundred  peo- 
ple, who  rejoiced  exceedingly,  even  the  women 
clapping  their  hands  for  joy,  and  often  thanking 
Messrs.  Lefever  and  Gomer,  especially  the  latter, 
whom  they  justly  regarded  as  the  chief  instrument 
by  which  so  glorious  a  change  had  been  wrought. 
This  event  favorably^  impressed  the  people  in 
behalf  of  the  mission,  and  gave  Mr.  Gomer  great 
influence  over  them.  They  were  now  more  than 
ever  convmced  that  the  missionaries  were  good 
men,  and  the  mission  a  good  institution,  notwith- 
standing Mohammedans  and  others  had  taught 
them  differently.  This  entirely  destroyed  the 
power  of  Mohammedanism  over  Richard  Caulker 
and  others  who  had  been  considerably  under  its 
influence,  and  who  were  regarded  as  hopeful 
subjects  to  be  proselyted  to  that  faith. 


A^ymm 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  163 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

MISSIONARIES    COMING    FROM    AND    GOING    TO    AFRICA, 
INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOL. 

Failing  health  compelled  Mrs.  Hadley  to  come 
home  in  June,  1874,  and  in  the  month  of  l!^ovem- 
ber  following  the  writer  sailed  for  Africa,  going 
by  way  of  Germany  for  the  purpose  of  ac- 
quainting himself  more  fully  with  the  condition 
of  our  missions  in  both  countries, — especially 
to  make  some  important  improvements  in  Africa ; 
to  organize  United  Brethren  societies  a{  Shen- 
gay  and  Bomphetook  stations,  and  otherwise  ren- 
der assistance  in  enlarging  and  prosecuting  our 
work  there.  This  being  done,  he  returned  at  the 
end  of  six  months. 

Mr.  Gomer  and  wife  having  been  there  five 
years,  they  greatly  needed  a  change  ;  and  to  relieve 
them,  Rev.  J.  Wolfe  was  appointed  in  August,  1875, 
and  sailed  the  following  October,  reaching    the 


164  MISSIONAKY   LIFE 

mission  in  December.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gomer  re- 
mained until  April,  when  they  sailed  for  America, 
leaving  Mr.  "VVolfc  in  charge  of  Shengay,  and  Mr. 
"Williams  of  Bomphetook.  Mr.  Gomer  and  wife 
returned  in  November,  1876,  having  been  in  this 
country  six  months,  during  which  time  they  did 
much  to  awaken  interest  in  behalf  of  our  African 
mission,  especially  Mr.  Gomer,  by  the  numerous 
lectures  delivered  by  him  at  annual  conferences 
and  other  places.  Meantime  the  Executive 
Committee  decided  to  re-enforce  the  mission  by 
the  addition  of  two  more  laborers,  to  accompany 
Mr.  Gomer  and  wife  and  to  open  an  industrial 
school  at  Shengay, — which  means  to  have  agricult- 
ural and  mechanical  departments  connected  with 
the  ordinary  mission-work.  To  meet  the  expense 
of  this  school,  a  call  was  made  for  special  contribu- 
tions. The  matter  being  presented  to  most  of 
the  conferences,  the  money  was  secured;  and  our 
people  were  more  fully  interested  in  the  African  mis- 
sion than  ever  before.  The  implements  needed  for 
commencing  the  industrial  school  were  bought 
just  before  Mr.  Gomer  and  wife,  Miss  Beeken, 
and  Miss  Bowman  sailed  for  Africa.  These  ladies 
were  sent  as  teachers — Miss  Beeken  to  be  support- 
ed by  the  Woman's  Missionary  Association,  which 
has    determined    to    sustain   a   lady    teacher    in 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  165 

Africa.     This   company   of   missionaries   reached 
Shengay,  December  21st,  1876. 

"With  seven  laborers  in  the  field,  besides  native 
teachers,  and  the  industrial  school  in  opera- 
tion, greater  results  for  good  are  anticipated  than 
have  yet  been   realized. 


166  MISSIONARY    LIFE 


*  CHAPTER  XLV. 

REV.    J.    A.    EVANS. 

Mr.  Evans  was  born  in  Mies,  Michigan,  May 
28th,  1848.  He  was  converted  in  1864,  and  united 
with  the  church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 
at  Gaines,  Michigan,  in  1870.  In  October  1871 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Michigan  Conference, 
and  was  ordained  to  the  office  of  an  ekler  at  the 
same  time,  and  soon  afterward  sailed  for  Africa. 
He  continued  his  labors  in  connection  with  Sher- 
bro  mission  until  August,  1873,  when  he  returned 
home.  The  following  month  he  was  appointed 
to  go  to  Virginia  and  labor  among  the  freedmen, 
which  he  did  acceptably  for  several  years,  and 
then  again,  by  order  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
re-entered  the  service  in  Africa.  While  in  Vir- 
ginia he  married  Miss  R.  L.  Allen,  who  accom- 
panied her  husbtnid  to  Africa,  where  they  expect 
to  remain  for  years,  life  and  health  permitting. 

Mr.  Evans  served  as  financial,  or  business  man- 
ager, during  Mr.  Comer's  late  visit  to  America. 
He  is  a  good  preacher,  and  well  adapted  to  mis- 
sion-work in  Africa. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  167 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 

EXTRACTS   FROM    REV.   J.    GOMER'S   JOURNAL. 

The  following  extracts,  taken  in  separate  para- 
graphs from  Mr.  Gomer's  journal,  will  be  found 
interesting  as.  illustrating  some  of  the  phases  of 
h  >:.tben  life  in  Africa,  the  nature  and  strength  of 
the  superstitions  which  prevail,  and  the  kind  of 
work  the  missionaries  have  to  perform ; 

Shortly  after  our  arrival  at  Shengay,  in  company 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Caulker,  I  went  to 
Mocabba  to  visit  one  of  our  old  boat-hands  who 
was  sick,  and  also  to  talk  to  the  people.  When 
they  heard  that  we  were  come  to  talk  to  them 
about  God  they  were  very  glad,  and  made  prepa- 
rations to  hold  meeting  out  doors.  They  brought 
seats  and  mats  to  sit  upon.  The  old  man  of  the 
town,  who  is  said  to  be  a  very  bad  man,  and  a 
leader  of  the  Purrow  Society,  was  present  and 
listened  very  attentively;  and  the  meeting  was 
interesting. 

A  great  cry  has  been  going  on  at  Tassoh  for  the 


168  MISSION AllY   LIFE 

death  of  ttie  old  king,  Ciudker,  from  the  12th  of 
January  till  to-day,  February  16th,  aud  uow  it  is  to 
be  continued  at  Shengay.  At  night  they  have  a 
grand  time  dancing  and  making  merry.  It  is  a 
fine  thing  for  a  king  to  die,  so  that  the  people 
can  make  merry.  But  the  people  are  fast  learn- 
ing better  here.  The  blessed  Bible  is  doing  its 
work  slowly  but  surely. 

Going  up  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  buying 
lumber,  we  stopped  for  the  night  at  a  town  called 
Mocabba.  Here  I  made  a  great  blunder  by  telling 
the  woman  who  presided  over  the  town  how.  wrong 
it  was  to  work  on  the  Sabbath.  Then  I  asked 
permission  to  call  the  people  together  to  talk  to 
them.  She  said,  "  she  could  not  agree  for  dat," 
as  I  would  tell  them  not  to  work  on  Sunday. 

Mr.  Caulker  told  me  that  he  is  informed  that 
men  are  disguising  themselves  as  leopards,  and 
killing  people  in  several  villages  back  in  the  coun- 
try. 

On  the  22d  of  August,  1872,  the  first  Christian 
marriage  that  ever  took  place  in  this  part  of  the 
country  among  natives  was  performed  in  the  mis- 
sion-house. Rev.  J.  A.  Evans  united  together 
Mr.  Williams  and  Elizabeth  Caulker;  also,  Mr. 
Thomas  Tucker  and  Miss  Polly  Caulker.  Al- 
though the  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  quite  a 
number  of  persons  were  present,  who  enjoyed  the 


IN   WESTEliN   AFRICA.  1G9 

occasion  much,  and  also  the  cakes  and  candy  which 
came  afterward. 

Among  tJie  many  places  of  interest  which  we 
visited  was  Fort  Caulker,  on  Plantain  Island, 
where  llev.  John  ISTewton  spent  many  years  of 
his  life,  first  as  an  extensive  merchant  and  slave- 
trader,  then  as  a  Christian,  and  an  eminent  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel. 

Thomas  Caulker,  Mrs.  Hadley,  Mrs.  Gomer,  the 
school  children,  and  myself  went  to  a  town  called 
TooniLo,  seven  miles  from  Shengay.  This  town 
ib  the  seat  of  government  for  one  of  Mr.  Caulker's 
sub-chiefs,  Mr.  McCockle.  He  is  head-man  of  the 
celebrated  Tomo  medicine.  This  is  a  native  pro- 
duction, and  its  merit  is  said  to  be  that  it  can  cut 
a  person's  nose.  The  members  of  the  Tomo  so- 
ciety worship  the  spirits  of  their  dead,  and  cook 
for  them.  They  wear  odd  costumes,  and  claim  to 
have  dealings  with  the  devil,  which  doubtless  is 
true.       The  Tomo  dance  is  a  favorite  amusement. 

One  Mr.  Sangster  came  to  Shengay  with  his 
daughter  Yamekiah,  from  Tassoh.  He  had  sold 
her  to  "VYilliam  Bangoora,  or  Soorie,  one  of  our 
boatmen,  for  a  wife,  two  or  three  months  previous- 
ly ;  but  when  they  were  to  be  married  the  mother 
objected  to  her  daughter's  "  swearing  that  bad 
American  swear."  Of  course  they  could  not  mar- 
ry then.     But  the  mother  became  sick,  and  finally 


170  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

gave  her  consent  to  the  "  swear."  Sister  Hadley, 
who  like  Dorcas  is  full  of  good  works,  dressed 
the  heathen  bride  from  her  own  wardrobe.  Soorie 
was  called,  and  Brother  Evans  performed  the  cer- 
emony, after  informing  them  of  the  nature  of  the 
oath  they  were  about  to  take  upon  themselves. 

January  9,  1873, 1  commenced  making  out  the 
annual  report  of  the  condition  of  the  mission. 
The  report  shows  a  very  encouraging  state  of 
things.  God  has  blessed  our  labors  abundantly. 
The  war-cloud  which  for  many  months  hung  over 
our  horizon  has  been  dispersed  by  Him  who  doeth 
all  things  well. 

With  Mr.  Warner  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Hadley, 
we  went  on  a  trip  up  the  Cockburrow  River,  and 
landed  at  Gendahmah.  We  then  went  up  to 
Molacket,  a  town  near  by.  Here  we  found  a 
curious  medicine.  It  is  called  "  sengby,"  and  is 
made  up  of  a  calabash,  some  goat-horns,  small 
shells,  old  rags,  and  a  small  bell.  This  medicine  is 
hung  up  in  a  pan ;  and  powder  is  then  placed  under 
it,  which  is  set  on  lire.  Of  course,  the  powder  ex- 
plodes. In  their  palavers  the  people  must  swear  by 
this  medicine ;  and  they  believe  that  if  any  person 
is  guilty  of  perjury  he  will  explode  like  the  powder. 

A  young  man  is  here  who  has  for  his  god  some 
leaves.  He  promised  to  bring  them  to  me,  and  I 
am  to  give  him  a  Bible  in  their  stead. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  171 

January  24,  1873.  The  missionaries  and  school- 
children  met  at  the  new  stone  chapel.  Rev.  Mr. 
Evans  read  portions  of  scripture.  After  singing  and 
praying  he  laid  the  corner-stone.  'Next  day,  with 
my  wife  and  Willie  Caulker,  I  went  to  Bomphe- 
took,  and  on  the  27th  we  opened  a  school,  "beginning 
with  eight  scholars.  We  are  living  in  a  low  mud- 
hut.  Several  of  the  people  come  in  the  evening 
to  learn  the  alphabet. 

Twoomah  and  his  wife  Deah  came  to  see  us, 
bringing  with  them  their  son,  who  is  to  attend 
our  school ;  hut  the  little  fellow  soon  ran  off.  I 
talked  with  an  old  man  who  seemed  quite  ignorant 
of  his  Creator,  and  everything  else.  The  state  of 
ignorance  to  which  the  people  are  reduced  is  most 
distressing. 

To-day  I  visited  Bowmah,  and  asked  permission 
to  hold  a  meeting;  but  the  head-woman  refused.  I 
then  went  to  Domingo's  town.  He  was  very  will- 
ing. We  had  a  very  pleasant  meeting  here.  I 
also  had  a  talk  with  the  old  chief,  Bah  Matty. 
He  has  a  quantity  of  gregrees  and  sabbas.  I  tried 
to  get  them  from  him  but  failed. 

We  received  several  presents  from  the  people.  A 
few  of  them  are  very  friendly,  and  kind  to  us, 
while  others  are  bitter  enemies.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  slave-holders  and  polygamists  who  know 
that  we  oppose  them  in  their  practices.     We  are 


172  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

visited  by  many  of  the  country  people,  who  seem 
very  anxious  to  look  at  our  stereoscopic  pictures, 
while  Mrs.  Gomer  and  I  improve  the  opportunity 
to  tell  them  of  Jesus.  We  called  &n  the  old  chief 
again,  and  while  reading  the  Scriptures  to  him 
several  came  in  to  listen.  May  God  bless  the 
seed  thus  sown.  The  Shengay  boys  gave  him  a 
concert.  He  is  a  cripple,  and  can  not  attend  service. 

March  17,  I  visited  Shengay  to  talk  to  the  peo- 
ple. Two  young  men  gave  me  their  names  for  the 
seekers'  class.  I  visited  several  of  the  converts 
for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  them.  Our  Bible 
class  is  becoming  very  interesting,  and  I  trust  good 
is  being  done.  I  feel  that  our  labor  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord.  There  is  a  young  man  in  Shengay 
who  wishes  to  be  a  Christian  ;  but  he  is  a  slave,  and 
his  master  will  not  allow  him  to  attend  meeting. 
"When  Mr.  George  Caulker  called  at  the  mission  I 
questioned  him  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  lie  at- 
tempted to  defend  it,  but  finally  admitted  that  it 
was  wrong.  This  evening  all  the  missionaries 
united  in  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  the  destruction 
of  slavery  and  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

I  found  a  great  variety  of  medicines  in  Sissy's 
box.  These  were  made  by  Murry-men.  One  of 
them  is  called  a  thief  medicine ;  and  they  claim 
that  the  owner  can  steal  anything  without  being 
discovered.     I  had  them  thrown  into  tlie  sou. 


IN   AVESTERN    AFRICA.  173 

Brother  AYiUiams  and  myself  went  to  Lower 
Kibbe.  It  is  a  miserably  dirty  place.  From  here 
we  went  to  another  town  called  Upper  Ribbe, 
where  resides  the  newly-created  king.  This  is  a 
nice  town.  We  were  kindly  received,  and  the 
people  gave  us  good  quarters.  On  the  next  morn- 
ing Daddy  John  presented  us  to  the  king.  He  is 
a  very  intelligent  looking  man  of  near  sixty  years 
of  age,  and  very  dignified  in  appearance.  He  s^nt 
for  all  his  chief  men.  We  were  very  well  cared 
for  by  the  people,  who  cooked  rice,  fowl,  cassada, 
fish,  etc.,  and  then  met  us  in  the  barra  to  hear 
what  we  had  to  say. 

The  following  is  the  prayer  of  an  old  man  who 
lived  away  in  the  country.  He  had  heard  about 
God  a  long  time  ago,  when  Mr.  Billheimer  wai=; 
laboring  at  our  mission.  He  tried  to  keep  the 
Sabbath,  but  he  had  forgotten  the  day  on  whicli 
it  came.     But  he  had  one  prayer,  which  he  prayed 

morning  and  evening. 

"0  God,  you  must  remember  me.     You  must 

make  my  heart  clean  ;  make  me  no  hate  nobody ; 

you  made  me ;  all  my  mind  there  to  you.     Please 

God,  you  must  show  me  how  for  pray,  because  I 

don't  know  how." 

To  shoot   any  person  is  a   declaration   of  war. 

If  you  kill  with  a   sword  or  ax  it  is   no   war; 

but  it  is  murder,  for  which  the  perpetrator  must 


174  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

be  burned.  A  fire-stick  is  kept  stuck  overhead, 
in  the  barra  where  they  have  the  trial,  with  which 
they  must  be  lighted. 

Joseph  T.  Mason  was  a  British  subject,  and  a 
trader  up  the  Cockburrow  River,  who  trusted  Boon- 
gamy  for  some  rum  and  tobacco.  After  waiting 
several  months,  and  Boongamy  did  not  pay. 
Mason,  with  his  laborers,  went  to  the  town  where 
Boongamy  lived,  and  as  he  was  not  at  home  they 
carried  oli"  all  his  household  goods,  and  his 
daughter  and  her  two  children.  Boongamy  report- 
ed the  affair  to  the  king,  who  summoned  Mason 
and  the  parties  concerned  to  Shengay,  where  the 
palaver  was  talked.  Both  parties  were  required 
to  swear  on  the  Bible.  The  chief,  upon  hearing 
the  evidences,  decided  that  the  children  must  be 
held  as  security  until  the  debt  was  paid.  The 
children  were  left  at  Shengay  for  safe  keeping, 
while  Boongamy  and  Masou  returned  to  their 
homes — Boongamy  to  raise  rice  and  make  palm- 
oil  to  redeem  his  grandchildren  from  slavery, 
and  Mason  to  sell  rum  and  tobacco,  and  spread 
misery  through  the  country.  Meantime  the 
children  were  put  into  school  at  Shengay  and 
were  learning  fast,  both  to  read  and  sing.  Little 
Mary  Ann  Boongamy  was  a  very  interesting  child 
of  about  six  or  seven  years  of  age ;  but  alas !  fate 
was  against  her.    Her  grandfather  soon  took  sick 


IN   WESTERN  AFRICA.  175 

and  died.  The  people  said  that  bad  swear  that 
he  swore  on  the  Bible,  that  white  man  swear, 
had  caught  and  killed  him.  Poor  little  Mary 
Ann  was  sold  or  traded  to  the  Soosoo  people  for 
a  cow.  Oh,  how  very  sad  we  felt  when  we  heard 
of  it. 

Piomi  is  chief  of  the  Turtle  Islands.    Although 
these  islands — twelve  or  fifteen  in  number — belong 
to  the  British,  they  allow  the  natives  to  manage  their 
own  affairs,  religiously  and  politically,  as  there  is 
not   enough  trade  here  to  make  it  profitable  to 
keep   a  government   official.      Piomi   is    a    man 
between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age.     In  1871  he 
came  over   to    Shengay    on  a  visit,  and  to  see   a 
girl  that  had  been  given  him  for  a  wife  when  she 
was  yet  a  child.     She  was  given  him  by  the  old 
king  ;  but  she  was  left  with  her  mother  until  she 
was  old  enough  to  become  his  wife,  so  he  returned 
to  his  home  to  wait  two  years  longer.     Mission- 
aries were  now  in  Shengay.      Susannah — for  that 
was  the  girl's  Christian  name— became  interested 
on  the  subject  of  religion.      Mrs.  Iladley,  one  of 
the  missionaries,  took  a  great  interest  in  her.    She 
obtained  pardon  and  was  happy   in  her  Savior's 
love.     But  time  fiew,  and  the  old  heathen  chief, 
who  already  had  a  great  number  of  wives,  came 
for  his  young  bride.     This  was  a  sore  trial  to  poor 
Susannah,  for  she  had  no  love  for  the  old  man ; 


176  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

and  then  there  were  "no  missionaries  on  the  islands, 
and  she  would  be  among  the  lowest  of  heathens. 
She  protested  against  going,  and  begged  her 
mother  to  save  her.  This  her  mother  could  not 
do,  as  the  old  king  had  given  her  to  this  man  ;  and 
now  that  the  king  was  dead  they  must  respect 
his  acts.  The  poor  girl  came  to  the  mission,  cry- 
ing as  though  her  heart  would  break,  to  tell  the 
missionaries  good-by.  After  committing  her  to 
God  in  prayer,  Mrs.  Hadley  gave  her  a  Bible  and 
Biie  left  for  her  new  home.  Here  she  led  a 
wretched  life,  as  the  other  wives  did.  She  had 
been  there  about  a  year  when  the  missionaries 
went  over  to  one  of  the  islands.  Susannah  soon 
heard  that  the  missionaries  had  come,  and  crossing 
the  island  upon  which  she  lived,  on  foot,  she 
came  by  canoe  to  see  the  missionaries.  Her  meet- 
ing with  Mrs.  Hadley  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 
Next  day  she  brought  one  of  her  sister-wives  with 
her,^  also  the  Bible  given  her  by  Mrs.  Hadley,  and 
desired  that  she  should  read  to  them.  Her  hus- 
bandj'if  he  may  be  called  such,  told  us  that  ofttimes 
she  would  take  this  Bible  upon  her  lap  and  sit  for 
a  long  time  crying,  and  would  say  that  her  good 
friend  had  given  it  to  her.  Some  months  after 
this  Susannah  got  sick,  and  the  old  chief  sent  her 
to  her  mother.  ^She  soon  recovered,  and  was  again 
attending  meetings  in    Shengay.     Her    husband 


EST   WESTERN   AFRICA.  177 

came  for  her,  and  again  the  mother  tried  to  save 
her;  but  the  king  said  she  must  go.  They  went 
fifteen  miles  down  the  coast  to  take  a  boat.  Here 
she  met  one  of  her  brothers,  who  was  a  convert. 
lie  took  her  from  the  old  chief  and  brought  her  j. 
back  to  Shengay ;  but  the  old  chief  recaptured  her 
and  took  her  back.  Shortly  after,  he  was  arrested 
by  the  British  government  on  suspicion  of  dealing 
in  slaves,  and  sent  to  Freetown  and  there  confined 
in  jail;  and  while  there,  Susannah  made  good  her 
escape  and  went  with  her  mother  to  the  Bomphe 
country,  where  Piomi  can  not  get  her.  While  with 
her  husband  she  received  no  support  from  him 
whatever,  but  had  to  feed  and  clothe  herself  as 
bjst  she  could. 

Many  native  Africans,  in  their  heathen  state, 
are  given  to  thieving  on  a  small  scale.  Especially  do 
they  steal  something  to  eat  whenever  they  can 
find  it,  unless  it  is  protected  or  watched  over  by 
what  they  call  medicine.  There  is  a  great  variety 
of  this  medicine.  It  is  frequently  made  by  Murry- 
men,  or  country-fashion  men,  as  they  are  called. 
The  Murry-men  are  Mohammedans,  who  write  in 
Arabic.  They  write  sentences  of  the  Koran  and  do 
it  up  in  difierent  forms,  either  in  horns,  in  cala- 
bashes, or  in  shells,  and  sometimes  in  cloth.  A  little 
hut  is  built,  usually  at  the  entrance  of  the  tarm,  and 
the  medicine  is  put  there  in  a  conspicuous  place,  so 

12 


178  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

as  to  be  seen  by  all.  It  is  claimed  that  whoever 
steals  anything  from  this  farm,  the  medicine  would 
catch  him ;  he  would  get  bad  sickness.  The  coun- 
try-fashion men  get  stones,  shells,  bug-a-bug  hills, 
and  many  other  foolish  things,  and  set  them  up  as 
medicines,  to  watch  farms.  Yery  few  natives 
would  dare  steal  where  they  see  any  of  the  above 
named  medicines.  Our  converts  are  not  allowed 
to  put  any  kind  of  medicines  on  their  farms,  and 
frequently  they  suffer  severely  from  theft.  The 
thieves  seem  to  search  for  the  farms  of  the  God 
people,  as  they  call  Christians,  knowing  that  they 
do  not  put  medicines  on  their  farms.  The  Murry 
or  medicine  men  also  have  smooth  boards  ;  and  if 
any  one  is  sick  they  write,  with  a  piece  of  chalk, 
passages  of  the  Koran.  They  then  wash  it  oft  in  a 
bowl  of  water  and  give  the  water  to  the  patient  to 
drink.  I  once  saw  a  Murry-man  give  a  patient 
this  Avater  to  drink.  The  patient  died.  I  said  to 
the  Murry-man,  "  Daddy,  your  medicine  no  use." 
He  replied,  "  Medicine  use,  but  that  daddy  head 
too  stronger ;"  that  is,  the  man  had  no  faith  in  the 
medicine,  and  hence  died. 

Mr.  Ream3%  Lucy  Caulker's  husband,  was  an 
Englishman,  and  an  agent  for  an  English  trading- 
house  on  York  Island.  A  native  from  the  country 
got  in  debt  to  him,  and  having  nothing  to  pay  he 
gave  his  son  in  pawn  for  security.     lie  turned  the 


IN   western"  AFRICA.  179 

boy  over  to  Lucy,  and  afterward  went  to  England 
for  his  health.     Lucy   moved  to   Shengay,    and 
took  the  boy,  whom   she  called   John,  with   her. 
Here  she  might  have  held  him  as  her  slave  if  she 
chose.      But   instead  of    doing   this    she   sought 
work     for    him,  and    encouraged    him    to    buy 
clothes  and  books  and  learn  to  read.     He  became 
a  regular  attendant  at  the  Sabbath-school.     He  is 
now    twenty  years   old,   and   concluded   that  he 
would  like   Chooca,  a  young  girl  who  is  living 
with   Mr.  Williams,  at  Bomphetook,  for  a  wife ; 
but  her  parents   were  not   willing   for  her  to  be 
married  like  white  folks.     Kext,  Lucy  tries  to  get 
Karry  Myalls'  daughter.     John  says  "he  likes  the 
girl,  and   the  girl    likes   him,  but  her  father  and 
mother   will   not   consent   for   their   daughter  to 
marry    white- folks'  fashion  ;  and  furthermore,  the 
missionaries   have  spoiled   his  medicines,  that  he 
had  to  mind  his  farms."  But  Lucy  persevered,  and 
found  another  girl  for  John,  whose  parents  agreed 
that  she  might  marry  Christian   fashion.     John  is 
very   industrious,    and   is   working   hard   to  earn 
money  to  build  him  a  house  in  which  to  live. 


180  MISSIONARY   LIFE 


CHAPTER  XL VII 

LETTERS    WRITTEN   BY   MISSIONARIES. 

The  following  extracts  from  published  letters 
written  by  missionaries  w^ile  in  Africa  during  the 
last  four  years  are  interesting  and  instructive. 
They  will  appear  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
written  as  to  time,  accompanied  with  the  name  of 
the  writer,  except  those  written  by  the  author  of 
this  volume. 

WORK   IN   A   HEALTHY   CONDITION. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  work  here  and  at 
Bomphetook  is  in  a  very  healthy  state,  and  we 
thank  God  for  the  prospect.  John  Caulker,  the 
Mohammedan,  who  has  done  much  harm  to  the 
work,  got  himself  into  trouble.  Mr.  Caulker 
called  all  the  chief  men  together  at  Shengay,  and 
John  was  arraigned  on  many  charges,  preferred 
against  him  by  Mr,  Caulker,  the  chief,  which  were 
l)roved.  Among  the  charges  was  one  of  trying  to 
hinder  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  the  only  thing 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  181 

calculated  to  elevate  the  country.  He  told  the 
story  of  the  king  of  Abyssinia  sending  to  Queen 
Victoria  to  know  what  made  her  country  so  great, 
and  how  she  sent  him  a  copy  of  the  Bible.  The 
missionaries  are  here  to  teach  us.  They  are  our 
friends.  If  you  want  to  drive  any  one  from  the 
country  (John  had  tried  to  have  the  people  at 
Shengay  and  Eomphetook  drive  the  missionaries 
from  the  country,  saying  they  were  spoiling  it),  let 
it  be  the  traders,  who  are  spoiling  the  country  with 
rum  and  tobacco.  We  don't  need  their  rum  or 
tobacco.  The  chief  has  been  very  friendly  of  late, 
sending  us  presents  of  fruit  and  vegetables  from 
his  garden.  A  few  weeks  ago  a  child  died  in 
Shengay.  He  had  her  taken  to  the  chapel,  called 
all  the  school-children,  and  as  many  adults  as 
would  come,  and  delivered  an  address  to  them  on 
the  certainty  of  death  and  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel ;  admonishing  all  to  prepare  for  death. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

purrow,  toomah,  bundoo,  and  yassa. 

On  the  24th  of  January,  1875,  Mr.  Gomer  and 
myself  were  at  Bomphetook.  At  6  o'clock  a.  m. 
we  had  prayer  and  class-meetings,  at  11  o'clock  I 
preached,  at  2  o'clock  p.  m.  Sabbath-school,  and  at 
7  o'clock  Mr.  Gomer  preached.  All  these  meet- 
ings were  poorly  attended.    Upon  making  inquiry 


182  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

as  to  the  reason  why,  the  reply  was,  "  The  Bundoo 
Society  done  met  close  by  last  week,  and  the  peo- 
ple, especially  women,  go  th6re." 

The  Bundoo  is  a  women's  secret  society,  and  at 
this  time  was  in  session  within  six  or  eight  miles 
of  Bomphetook,  and  had  created  a  good  deal  of  ex- 
citement among  the  people  in  all  the  towns,  some 
five  or  six  in  number,  between  Shengay  and  Bom- 
phetook. The  particular  event  which  produced 
this  was  the  fact  that  one  of  Chief  Caulker's  girls, 
and  one  or  more  of  the  girls  of  each  head-man 
in  all  these  towns,  had  run  away  to  join  the  Bun- 
doo. Our  chief 's  head-wife,  and  the  head-wife  of 
another  town  close  to  Bomphetook,  were  after 
their  runaway  daughters  on  this  day.  Chief 
George  Caulker,  and  his  father  before  him,  with 
other  head-men  in  the  Sherbro  country,  are  opposed 
to  all  these  secret  societies,  and  this  explains  why 
their  daughters  ran  away  to  join  the  Bundoo,  and 
why  the  mothers  of  these  girls  were  after  them  to 
prevent  them  from  uniting  with  the  society. 

All  we  have  been  able  to  learn  of  the  Bundoo  is, 
that  it  is  among  the  women  about  the  same  that 
the  Furrow  is  among  men.  Both  practice  circum- 
cision, and  are  institutions  having  some  age,  and 
exerting  considerable  influence.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  the  Furrow  Society. 

The  Furrow  and  Toomali  are  composed  of  men 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  183 

exclusively,  and  the  Bundoo  and  Yassa  of  women. 
The  Toomah  and  Yassa  are  of  recent  origin. 

Rev.  B.  Root,  an  educated  native  of  that  coun- 
try, stated  to  the  writer  the  following  in  regard  to 
the  Furrow  Society : 

"  It  exerts  a  wonderful  influence  over  the  civil 
and  religious  institutions  of  that  country.  The 
three  particular  things  it  teaches  are,  resolution, 
reticence, and  endurance;  and  it  is  composed  mostly 
of  freemen,  and  the  better  or  smarter  members  of 
society.  The  chiefs  are  generally  Purrow-men, 
and  the  society  controls  them  and  indicates  the 
policy  they  must  pursue  in  most  matters  of  impor- 
tance. There  are  but  three  degrees,  two  of  which 
are  not  regarded  as  very  important,  but  the  third 
is  all-important  and  binding.  When  the  Purro  w 
decides  a  matter,  it  is  as  though  the  Supreme 
Court  did  so  in  our  country.  It  is  the  highest 
authority  known ;  and  woe  to  the  man  who  goes 
contrary  to  its  requirements. 

"This  society  impresses  the  uninitiated  and  lower 
classes  with  a  fear  which  is  remarkable,  and  makes 
them  easy  victims  to  any  oppression  or  injustice 
which  it  may  impose  upon  them ;  and  yet  it  often 
conserves  the  peace  and  purity  of  society,  and  es- 
pecially of  its  own  members.  There  are  times 
when  to  use  an  impure  word  is  a  punishable  of- 
fense, and  those   who  do  it  are  made  to  feel  the 


184  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

power  of  the   Purrow.     It  is  of  great  antiquity, 
coming  to  the  west  coast  of  Africa  from  Egypt." 

That  it  puts  out  of  the  way,  by  assassination, 
objectionable  chiefs  and  head-men  there  is  no 
doubt, — sometimes  by  a  party  of  men  going  out 
and  murdering  outright,  or  by  administering 
poison  through  persons  who  are  regarded  as 
fast  friends  of  the  party  to  be  disposed  of. 
It  is,  in  short,  a  powerful  organization, 
and  one  which,  like  slavery  and  polygamy,  will 
require  time  to  destroy.  It  stole  one  of  our  first 
converts,  and  carried  him  away  and  concealed 
him,  at  two  different  times,  and  the  last  time,  by 
force,  made  him  a  Purrow-man,  and  put  him 
through  a  severe  drill.  He  finally  saw  a  way  of 
escape,  and  left  the  Purrow-ground,  a  dense 
thicket,  and  came  back  to  the  mission,  where  he 
still  remains. 

DEDICATION    OF   A    CHAPEL   AT    BOMPHETOOK. 

Brother  Flickinger  dedicated  the  first  house  of 
prayer  in  this,  one  of  the  strongest  citadels  of  the 
devil,  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  great  Pur- 
vow-bush,  last  Sunday,  the  28th  of  March.  It  was 
a  most  interesting  and  refreshing  occasion.  The 
congregation  was  unusually  large.  All  the  benches 
were  filled,  and  others  had  to  be  brought  in  from 
the  neighboring  huts.     The  text  was,  "  My  house 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  185 

shall  be  called  the  house  of  prayer."  The  chief, 
George  S.  Caulker,  interpreted.  The  congrega- 
tion then  stood  up  while  I  read  a  part  of  Solomon's 
dedicatory  prayer,  which  was  also  ably  interpreted 
by  the  chief,  sentence  after  sentence.  At  the  close 
of  the  reading  Brother  Flickinger  ofiered  the 
dedicatory  prayer.  The  Sabbath-school  scholars 
then  chanted  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-sixth 
psalm. 

After  this  I  baptized  three  persons,  and  we  ad- 
ministered the  Lord's-supper  to  eleven  individuals. 
Evidently  the  Lord  was  with  us.  It  was  a  time 
never  to  be  forgotten  by  any  who  were  present. 
Though  the  service  was  unusually  long,  yet  none 
seemed  tired.  There  were  absent,  from  unavoid- 
able causes,  three  candidates  for  baptism  and 
seven  for  church-membership. 

At  the  close  of  the  Sunday-school  in  the  after- 
noon, a  church,  composed  of  eight  members,  was 
organized. 

The  house  is  30  by  20  feet,  and  capable  of  com- 
fortably seating  one  hundred  and  twenty  people. 
It  will  cost  about  £20  when  quite  completed  and 
inclosed.  J.  M.  Williams. 

WHAT    THINGS    COST   IN   AFRICA. 

To   support  a  mission  in   western  Africa  costs 
materially     For  instance,  we  paid  five  dollars  per 


186  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

hundred  for  lumber  in  Freetown,  and  on  the 
ground  here  it  cost  seven  dollars  per  hundred. 
Missionaries  must  have  lumber  to  build  houses  in 
which  to  live,  teach,  and  preach.  "We  also  bought 
native  lumber,  which  is  quite  irregular  in  thick- 
ness, and  green,  for  four  dollars  and  a  half.  We 
paid  thirty-six  cents  for  a  lamp-chimney,  worth 
eight  or  ten  cents ;  and  everything  in  the  furniture 
line  is  very  costly  here. 

Missionaries  must  have  boats.  To  keep  the 
boats  and  buildings  in  repair  is  a  constant  bill  of 
expense;  and  to  run  a  boat,  five  or  six  men  are 
needed,  who  cost,  in  this  country,  from  six  to  eight 
dollars  a  month. 

The  cement  sent  here  to  fix  the  bank  cost  in 
!N^ew  York  a  dollar  and  sixty  cents  per  barrel ;  to 
bring  it  to  Freetown  cost  two  dollars  and  fifty 
cents,  and  from  Freetown  to  Shengay  one  dollar. 
Then  to  get  it  from  the  vessel  to  the  schooner,  and 
from  the  schooner  ashore,  cost  about  forty  cents 
more  per  barrel.  Some  extra  charges  were  made 
for  cooperage,  etc.,  so  that  it  cost  here  about  six 
dollars  per  barrel. 

Mr.  Gomer  took  his  sick  wife  to  Freetown  to 
obtain  medical  attention.  He  rented  a  house  for 
thirteen  dollars  a  month.  In  less  than  a  week 
the  doctor  told  him  he  must  take  his  wife  to 
Regent,  a  mountain-town  five  miles  away,  if  she 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  187 

was  to  be  benefited.  To  make  her  comfortable, 
he  must  rent  a  house  there  at  ten  dollars  a  month, 
but  a  whole  month's  rent  must  be  paid  for  the 
first  house ;  so  you  see  he  paid  twenty-three  dollars 
ho.use-rent  for  that  month.  Then  it  cost  five  dol- 
lars to  get  his  wife  and  things  to  Regent;  then  he 
had  to  hire  a  cook  and  nurse  at  six  dollars  a 
month,  and  the  doctor's  bill  was  ten  pounds  and 
thirteen  shillings,  or  over  fifty  dollars.  The  entire 
cost  of  this  trip  was  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  during  the  two  months  that  she  was 
away;  yet  this  outlay  of  money  could  not  be 
avoided. 

Many  things  seem  cheap  here,  as  labor,  for  in- 
stance, but  still  they  are  much  dearer  than  in  the 
United  States.  We  pay  our  carpenters  and  masons 
from  twelve  to  fifteen  dollars,  and  the  common 
laborers  from  six  to  eight  dollars  a  month;  but 
one  good  mechanic  in  America  will  do  as  much 
as  four  or  five  of  these,  and  so  of  the  laborers. 
Then  you  must  be  with  them  here  much  of  the 
time,  showing  them  how  to  do  the  work,  and 
when  it  is  done,  you  feel  sad  to  think  that  both 
they  and  yourself  had  so  little  sense. 

Kot  less  than  five  hundred  dollars  are  annually 
required  for  repairs,  to  keep  the  mission-residence 
and  the  chapels  and  boats  in  good  condition. 
Then,  to  keep  four  missionaries,  with  the  school- 


188  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

teachers  necessary,  and  the  common   laborers  for 

manning  boats  and  doing  other  necessary  work, 
will  require  at  least  three  thousand  more.     In  case 

of  much  sickness,  or  having  to  go  abroad  in  search 

of  health,  from  four  to  five  thousand  dollars  are 

needed  every  year. 

NUDE   AFRICANS. 

On  my  return  from  Shengay  to  America  I 
spent  several  days  in  Freetown,  awaiting  a  vessel 
in  which  to  sail.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
living  out-doors.  The  weather  is  always  warm, 
and  during  one  half  the  year  there  is  no  rain ;  and 
many  of  the  people  are  quite  indifterent  as  to 
whether  they  are  in  or  out  of  doors,  as  well  as  to 
whether  they  are  in  or  out  of  clothing.  Their 
habits  of  going  naked  there,  especially  boys  and 
girls  until  they  are  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  out- 
rages one's  sense  of  propriety.  But  this  is  com- 
mon all  along  the  west  coast  of  Africa.  To  put  a 
stop  to  naked  boys  and  girls  coming  to  the  mis- 
sion-house, they  had  to  be  punished.  We  publicly 
and  privately  preached  the  gospel  of  dress,  and 
showed  the  people  that  their  licentious  practices 
could  never  be  corrected  until  they  dress- 
ed. Nakedness  is  a  crime  against  humanity,  and 
contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  and  should  be  pun- 
ished severely.     The  great  curse  of  Africa, — that 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  189 

which  causes  more  converts  to  backslide  than  all 
other  evils,  -  is  licentiousness;  and  nakedness  con- 
duces much  to  it. 

DEDICATION  OP  THE  CHAPEL  AT  SHENGAY. 

"  Thanks  be  to  Grod  which  giveth  us  the  victory." 
"We  are  organized  at  last,  and  our  beautiful  new 
chapel  is  dedicated  to  Grod.  We  have  labored  un- 
der great  disadvantages,  many  of  our  people  being 
away.  The  whole  country  is  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment. One  John  Caulker  has  a  party  of  Kossoo 
warriors,  who  are  committing  serious  depredations 
in  the  country,  in  consequence  of  which  it  is 
in  a  state  of  confusion.  On  the  3d,  4th,  and 
5th  of  April  three  villages  were  plundered  by  the 
robbers. 

On  April  2d  we  met  a  few  of  our  members  in 
the  country  chapel  at  Shengay.  Mr.  Flickinger 
told  them  that  we  intended  to  organize  a  church 
on  the  following  Sabbath,  and  stated  what  would 
be  required  of  those  who  united  with  us,  namely, 
that  no  one  owning  slaves,  or  who  is  a  member  of 
the  Purrow  Societ}^,  or  apolygamist,  or  who  sells  or 
drinks  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  could  bo 
a  member  of  our  church.  On  the  morning  of  the 
4th  the  chapel  was  pretty  well  filled.  Mr.  Flick- 
inger preached,  taking  for  his  text  Psalm  xxvii.  4, 
and  after  the  sermon        Rev.  J.  M.  Williams,  of 


190  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

Bomplietook,  read  the  seveuth  chapter  of  II. 
Chronicles.  Next  the  dedicatory  prayer  was 
offered.  A  class  of  sixteen  members  was  organ- 
ized. Others  had  given  me  their  names  to  unite 
with  us,  but  because  of  sickness,  and  for  various 
other  reasons,  they  were  not  present.  At  7  o'clock 
in  the  evening  the  new  chapel  was  brilliantly 
lighted  by  the  new  lamps  that  were  donated  by 
the  Hicksville  Sabbath-school.  Many  thanks  to 
those  dear  friends  of  poor,  degraded  Africa.  Rev 
J.  M.  Williams  delivered  a  very  pointed  and 
practical  discourse  from  Matthew  xxvii.  23,  after 
which  twenty-seven  partook  of  the  sacrament. 

A  few  words  about  the  new  chapel  before  I 
close,  it  is  plastered  inside  and  out,  and  has  had 
the  walls  strenghtcned  with  iron  rods.  The  wood- 
work is  all  painted  nicely ;  and  good,  substantial 
scat3,  that  will  comfortably  seat  two  hundred  and 
twenty  persons  have  been  provided.  Thanks  be  to 
God  who  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  those  good  peo- 
ple in  America  to  build  a  house  for  God  here  in 
this  dark  land. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

Slicngay,  AVcst  Africa,  April  6,  1875. 

SUICIDE    BY   AN    AFRICAN. 

I  have  received  five  members  since  you  left,  one 
month  ago.  Our  meetings  and  Sabbath-schools 
are  good,  and  the  Bible-class  is   very   large.    A 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  191 

man  came  to  me,  a  few  days  ago,  and  professed  to 
have  been  converted,  gave  a  very  good-  expertence, 
and  wished  to  join  the  Church ;  but  he  had  two 
wives.  "One  of  them  had  had  four  children  by 
him,  but  she  hold  no  God-palaver;  the  other 
•one  hold  God-palaver  long  time,  but  she  no  have 
any  children."  J^ow  which  one  can  be  left  so  he 
can  join  the  Church.  He  says  he  must  join  ;  but 
this  is  a  difficult  matter  to  settle. 

The  chief  is  doing  well.  He  has  sent  three  men 
to  Bomphetook  to  assist  Brother  "Williams  with 
his  house.  Yesterday  we  received  word  that  one 
of  the  villages  which  John  Caulker's  men  had 
plundered  was  bringing  a  war  party  to  Shengay. 
David's  father  had  a  palaver  at  Bomphetook  on 
last  Sabbath.  Brother  Williams  happened  in  at 
the  chief's  house  when  they  were  talking.  He 
told  them  that  if  God  sent  trouble  upon  them  very 
soon,  they  would  know  what  it  was  for.  Before 
the  morning  meeting  was  over  a  cry  was  heard, 
and,  on  inquiring  the  cause  of  it,  it  was  found  that 
one  of  the  chief's  children  had  been  drowned  in 
the  sea.  Afterward,  Cosambo,  David's  father, 
loaded  his  gun  heavily,  put  the  muzzle  in  his 
mouth,  and  blew  his  brains  out.  The  palaver  had 
gone  against  him.  The  people  said  he  had  "some 
bad  thing  in  him,  what  made  him  do  so ;  maybe 
witch  live  there  ;  "  and  they  cut  him  open  to  see, 


192  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

but  found  no  witch.     Thus  you  see  how  the  devil 
is  working,  and  we  must  be  up  and  doing. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  May  17, 1875. 

GODS   DELIVERED    TO    MISSIONARIES. 

We  have  great  cause  to  be  thankful  for  the  per- 
manency of  the  sea-wall  and  the  church.  I  claim 
success  for  botli.  I  thank  God  that  in  the  spirit- 
ual work  we  have  nothing  to  complain  of.  The 
leaven  is  working.  Our  Bible  class  is  well  attend- 
ed by  both  old  and  young,  who  seem  to  take  a 
deep  interest.  I  received  six  into  the  Church  lately, 
and  dropped  one.  There  are  many  of  the  poor 
slaves  that  would  unite  but  for  the  proud  Pharisees 
who  stand  in  the  door.  But  we  are  praying ;  and 
God  hears  prayers.  Our  meetings  are  good. 
Tassoh,  Shooney,  and  Cattah,  are  now  having 
preaching  every  Sabbath.  They  give  us  a  house 
at  the  two  former  places,  and  at  Cattah  they  have 
built  a  very  small  barra.  We  shall  add  Tissannah 
as  soon  as  the  rains  slack  a  little. 

The  children  are  all  improving  rapidly  in  writ- 
ing, arithmetic,  and  grammar. 

I  spent  a  Sabbath  at  Bomphctook,  a  few  weeks 
a  ;'o,  but  the  rains  were  very  heavy,  and  few  peo- 
ple came  out.  However,  it  is  very  evident  we  are 
gaining  ground  there.  Mr.  Cole,  the  teacher,  gave 
me  a  large  maugro  god  that  he  got  from  Contam, 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  193 

the  chief's  mouth-piece,  and  he  now  sends  his  boy 
to  school.  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  brought  me  another 
large  wooden  god,  which  the  owner  had  got  tired 
of. 

I  saw  the  governor  in  town.     He  says  he  thinks'* 
Shengay  will  be  annexed  to  British  Sherbro. 

Lucy  Caulker  is  a  great  help  to  us  in  our  work ; 
and  she  deserves  great  credit  for  her  zeal  in  put- 
ting down  evil  and  standing  up  boldly  for  Christ. 
Mrs.  Neal:  has  a  class  of  adults,  and  is  doing  well 
in  the  Sabbath-school.  Lucy  and  Betty  Caulker 
take  the  infant  class,  numbering  from  thirty  to 
forty,  and  teach  them  scripture  lessons  and  to  sing. 
You  see,  native  help  is  already  doing  considerable. 
God  is  for  us,  and  we  are  on  the  winning  side. 

After  having  gone  to  bed  last  night,  some  man 
came  from  Tassoh  in  great  haste  for  the  mission- 
boat — a  canoe  having  been  upset  at  sea,  and  one 
man  was  already  drowned,  and  another  was  cling- 
ing to  the  canoe.  It  was  the  time  of  high  water, 
and  a  gale  had  been  blowing  for  several  days.  I  let 
the  boat  go,  and  our  captain  with  it ;  but  they  were 
too  late  to  save  the  man.  This  man  had  often  at- 
tended our  meetings,  but  had  never  made  a  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  Christ.  There  are  thousands  in 
this  country  driven  by  the  devil  out  in  the  great 
ocean  of  sin.  The  storm  has  been  raging  for 
many  years,  and  many  precious  souls  have  dropped 

13 


194  MISSIONARY  LIFE 

■unprepared  into  eternity  because  tlie  gospel  ship 
was  not  there  to  rescue  them.  The  cry  comes 
from  villages  about  us,  "  Bring  us  the  gospel ;  we 
are  sinking;  we  are  perishing;  we  are  swamped  in 
this  ocean  of  sin ;  bring  us  the  Bible.  We  want  a 
safe  religion — a  religion  with  which  we  can  feel 
secure.  These  charms,  these  gregrees,  these  sab- 
bas,  these  wooden  and  stone  gods,  these  bug-a-bug 
hills  are  not  able  to  save  us.  The  sea  is  rough. 
"We  want,  we  must  have,  the  gospel  ship.  Bring 
it  to  us."  But  precious  souls,  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  must  perish,  because  our  numbers 
are  too  small !  Joseph  Gomer. 

Rhengay  Mission-house,  July  20,  1875. 

YESTERDAY   A  BLESSED   DAY. 

Yesterday  was  a  blessed  day — a  day  of  such 
joy  that  we  wept  for  gladness.  The  cause  is  that 
it  can  now  be  said  of  our  head-man  Bah  Matty, 
"  Behold,  he  prayeth."  Our  Jesus  is  the  conrpier- 
or.  Satan's  kingdom  is  already  shaking  at  Shengaj^ 
and  Bomphetook.  Yesterday  afternoon  Bah 
Matty  sent  to  ask  us  to  come  and  pray  for  him  in 
his  house.  Joyfully  we  accepted  his  offer.  After 
the  regular  evening  service,  a  large  number  ac- 
companied us  to  the  chief's  house.  Again  I  spoke 
briefly  to  him.  Nearly  all  the  prayers  were  ofi'ered 
by  our   native   brethren   and   sisters.     The  chief 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  195 

weptlikc  a  cliild.  Finally,  he  fell  on  his  knees 
and  cried,  "  O  Ogbatukeh"  (0  God),  and  contin- 
ued praying,  while  we  all  bowed  too.  Some  wept, 
while  others,  who  understood  the  burden  of  his 
petition,  loudly  said,  "Konay,  Ogbatukeh"  (Do, 
God).  Another  has  cried  to  God,  also.  The  last 
two  Sabbaths  our  congregation  has  been  unusually 
large.  Among  those  added  to  our  regular  hearers 
is  Kong  Tom,  the  next  man  to  Bah  Matty  in 
Bomphetook.  A  few  months  ago  he  was  so  en- 
raged that  he  threatened  to  bring  myself  and 
"Daddy"  Williams  to  their  "  barra,"  or  court  of 
justice,  for  erecting  the  barra  without  order  from 
the  chief.  He  did  all  he  could  to  oppose  the  work. 
ISTow,  when  at  home,  he  is  both  a  regular  and  at- 
tentive hearer  of  the  word.  He  is  now  a  good 
friend  of  ours.  Two  interesting  youths  from  Kai 
and  a  woman  were  added  to  the  number  of  be- 
lievers in  the  Lord.  Two  others  were  baptized, 
and  three  were  added  to  the  Church.  At  a  church 
meeting  held  June  23d  it  was  agreed  that  this 

chapel  be  named  Otterbein. 

J.  M.  Williams. 

TRIP    UP    THE    BOMPHE    RiVER. 

Thomas  Caulker,  Thomas  Tucker,  and  myself 
started  on  a  trip  up  the  Bomphe  River,  for  the 
purpose  of  preaching  and  to  buy  some  rice.     We 


196  MISSIONAllY    LIFE 

toucbed  at  Mammoo,  and  slept  at  Conollo.  Next 
morning  we  passed  on  to  the  town  of  Bomphe. 
Here  we  found  King  Richard.  The  king  says  if 
we  will  furnish  a  school-teacher,  he  will  give  us 
the  grounds  and  put  up  a  country-house  for  school 
and  dwelling.  From  here  we  passed  on  to  Pho- 
Phi,  and  Candobee,  a  few  miles  further  up  the 
river.  As  we  entered  the  town  we  were  met  by  a 
very  old  woman,  who  ran  to  meet  me,  clasped  my 
hand  in  both  of  hers,  then  danced  and  capered 
about  like  a  child.  When  this  first  outburst  of 
joy  was  over,  she  told  me  that  "  before  time  when 
Mr.  Billheimer  been  in  the  mission  she  been  live 
there  and  cook  for  them  boatmen,  and  that  time 
she  been  hear  'bout  God,  but  she  no  been  hear 
good,  for  she  no  been  go  inside  the  meeting ;  she 
been  shame  ;  she  want  to  go  back  to  the  mission 
again,  but  she  done  loss  all  her  teeth."  When  we 
told  her  that  we  were  going  to  keep  a  meeting 
there  that  night,  she  took  another  dance.  There 
is  a  small  barra  here,  where  the  Mohammedans 
pray  and  teach  some  children  to  read  and  urite 
Arabic.  We  got  permission  to  occupy  this  barra, 
and  soon  all  the  people  in  town  were  a8seml)led 
at  the  meeting.  I  never  saw  better  attention 
paid  anywhere.  Early  next  morning  I  heard  a 
man  crying  at  the  top  of  his  voice  something  in 
the   Timiny  language;  and  he  was   walking    all 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  197 

tlirough  the  town,  hallooing  as  he  went  in  a  very- 
angry  manner.  On  inquiring,  I  learned  that  some 
one  had  stolen  a  fowl  from  him,  and  he  was  pub- 
lishing to  the  town  that  if  this  was  repeated  he 
would  go  and  swear  "  on  one  bad  medicine,  and  if 
any  one  steal  from  him  again  bad  sickness  must 
catch  them,  and  swell  their  belly,  and  all  their 
bones  must  hurt  um  so  they  can't  sleep;  sores 
must  come  all  over  their  skin,  and  bad  sick  must 
eat  their  noses ;  and  that  some  sick  must  come  on 
all  their  family;  and  whoever  sorry  for  them  must 
get  all  same  sick." 

From  here  we  went  to  a  new  town  not  named 
yet,  as  there  were  but  few  people  in  it.  Our  stay 
was  short.  About  4 :  00  p.  m.  on  the  8th  we  landed 
at  Gondohoe,  and  walked  to  Senehoe,  a  short  mile. 
In  population  it  would  make  four  of  Shengay. 
The  people  are  mostly  Mendis,  with  a  few  Timi- 
nies,  and  a  sprinkle  of  Sherbros.  This  is  where  the 
chief,  Banyah,  or  Ilanyah,  resides.  He  was  not 
at  home,  however.  The  chief  is  a  raw  heathen ; 
and  they  say  he  has  one  hundred  and  eighty  wives. 
He  is  not  an  old  man,  and  has  more  power  over 
his  people  than  any  other  king  in  the  country.  He 
furnished  many  soldiers  for  the  Ashantee  war.  I 
talked  to  them  from  John  i.  12,  13.  A  young 
man  from  Freetown  who  knows  book  tried  to  in- 
terpret in  Mcndi,  but  my  English  was  too  strong, 


198  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

as  tliey  say;  so  Mr.  Parker,  wlio  interprets  for  the 
chief,  did  it.  J.  Gomer. 

September  6,  1875. 

EVILS   OF   THE   LIQUOR  TRAFFIC   IN   AFRICA. 

To  say  that  liquor  kills  more  than  the  sword  is 
putting  it  very  weak.  It  not  only  kills  more,  but 
worse ;  for  the  sword  only  kills  the  body,  but  this 
kills  pockets,  reputation,  mind,  soul,  and  body, 
and  not  unfrequently  wife  and  children.  It  is 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  small-pox,  or  cholera,  or 
any  known  epidemic.  It  is  the  concentration  of 
everything  that  is  degrading  and  ruinous.  No 
kind  of  devilish,  low  business  can  well  get  along 
without  it.  It  is  the  scourge  of  all  Christian  and 
heathen  lands.  Having  made  four  trips  to  Africa, 
the  cargo  upon  each  vessel,  with  one  exception, 
was  principally  rum.  Rum  and  missionaries — 
but  hundreds  of  barrels  of  rum  to  one  missionary 
— go  to  heathen  lands.  In  western  Africa  it  is 
tlie  curse  of  curses  now.  In  other  days  it  did 
much  to  carry  on  the  slave-trade.  One  barrel  of 
rum  has  been  known  to  purchase  quite  a  number 
of  slaves;  and  often  by  getting  the  people 
drunk  slave-traders  carried  them  away  without 
giving  any  remuneration,  which  was  indeed  but 
little  worse  than  to  get  them  by  giving  the  rum  to 
head-men,  who  would  make  war  upon  some  small 


IN   WESTERN  AFRICA.  199 

unprotected  town  and  steal  them  and  deliver  tliem 
to  the  slave-merchants.  Going  there  I  encounter- 
ed several  severe  gales  and  storms,  and  a  few  times 
ivas  in  danger  of  being  lost  at  sea;  but  the  great- 
est danger  I  ever  encountered  was  on  account  of 
a  drunken  captain, 

I  was  in  a  town  in  Africa,  where  it  was  told  that 
a  drunken  head-man  had  a  man  beheaded  for  pick- 
ing  up  two  or  three  of  his  palm-nuts  and  eating 
them  !  The  poor  fellow  had  lost  himself  the  morn- 
ing before,  and  wandered  about  most  of  the  daj  and 
all  night  without  anything  to  eat,  and  found  his 
way  home  early  in  the  morning.  Passing  by  the 
head-man's  palm-nuts,  he  picked  up  and  ate  a 
couple,  but  was  reported  to  the  head-man,  who 
ordered  him  killed  outright,  and  it  was  done.  This 
head-man  had  not  yet  sobered  up  fully  from  his 
drunk  the  day  before  on  American  rum. 

Among  the  first  things  I  saw  in  Africa  when 
landing  there,  twenty-two  years  ago,  was  a  num- 
ber of  barrels  of  rum  from  a  whisky-rectifying 
establishment  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Some  Christian 
farmers  had  raised  tlie  corn,  it  may  be,  that  made 
that  rum.  Could  they,  and  all  lovers  of  good 
morals  and  religion,  know  the  evils  of  the  liquor 
traffic  in  Africa,  they  would  not  only  not  sell  grain 
to  make  it,  but  would  labor  to  put  down  the 
traffic. 


200  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

WORK    AT   BOMPHETOOK. 

The  sudden  outbreak  of  war  not  only  stopped 
me  from  itinerating,  but  threatened  to  suspend  our 
work  at  this  station.  Bomphetook  and  surround- 
ing towns  were  depopulated  by  the  flight  of  their 
inhabitants  before  the  enemy.  Bah  Matty  and 
other  chiefs  fled  over  to  British  Sherbro.  This 
greatly  afteoted  our  congregations  and  schools, 
and  that  just  when  there  was  a  necessity  to  add 
to  our  benches  to  accommodate  the  increasing 
number  of  the  congregation. 

Bah  Matty  and  many  of  the  people  returned 
from  their  hiding-places  last  Friday  and  Saturday. 
Myself  and  Brother  Wolfe  called  on  him  on  Sun- 
day morning.  On  my  asking  him,  "  What  news  ?" 
he  said,  "No  news;  only  I  done  send  word,  and 
the  people  are  washing  themselves  to  get  ready  to 
go  to  pray."  At  the  eleven  o'clock  service  the 
barra  was  more  crowded  than  ever.  All  the 
benches  in  the  neighborhood,  besides  those  we 
have,  were  insufficient  to  contain  the  people  who 
came  out  to  worship  the  Lord  our  God.  At  out- 
last quarterly  meeting  two  persons  were  added  to 
the  Church. 

Mrs.  Williams  commenced  a  children's  weekly 
prayer-meeting  soon  after  her  return  to  the  sta- 
tion. It  is  held  in  the  barra  every  Friday  evening. 
It  is  very  interesting  and  encouraging  to  hear  the 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  201 

heathen  children  speaking  to  God  and  praying  in 
the  name  of  Jesu8.  We  feel  it  our  duty  to  labor 
all  we  can  and  pray  more  for  success  among  the 
young.  "We  begin  to  see  signs  of  spiritual  life 
among  the  children.  God  be  praised.  The  num- 
ber of  members  on  the  list  since  our  organization 
is  twenty-one;  removals  to  other  parts  of  the 
country,  three  ;  dismissed  from  membership,  four. 
The  number  on  the  list  of  the  inquirers'  class 
during  the  year  1875,  not  admitted  into  the 
Church,  was  twenty-two;  removed  and  carried 
away  to  the  interior,  fifteen;  number  in  attend- 
ance, six ;  under  the  watch-care  of  the  Church, 
one.  The  number  on  the  day-school  list  is  twenty- 
five. 

A  Yassa  dance  was  got  up  and  kept  Bomphe- 
took  noisy  for  a  week,  by  an  elderly  woman,  just 
at  the  time  I  expected  a  favorable  result.  The 
Purrow  devil  was  out  twice,  the  destruction  of  the 
cassada  farms  by  wild  hogs  and  of  several 
lives  by  sharks  being  believed  to  be  the  work 
of  human  beings  transformed  to  wild  hogs  and 
sharks.  I  lost  no  opportunity  for  several  weeks, 
in  public  and  private,  to  battle  against  such 
heathenish  beliefs,  and  to  show  that  these,  with 
the  unsettled  state  of  the  country,  were  the  voice 
of  God  to  their  chiefs  and  people.  Just  when 
signs   of   success   began  to    show  themselves,   a 


202  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

"  country  doctor,"  or  "  medicine-man,"  from  the 
Mperreh  country  visited  Bomphetook,  and  called 
upon  the  people  and  surrounding  chiefs  to  "  make 
the  devil-heart  lie  down,"  that  he  may  drive  awa}'' 
all  bad  from  the  country,  and  prove  (expose  the 
individuals  who  were  transforming  themselves 
into)  the  wild  hogs  and  sharks.  This  fetich-man 
sold  a  great  quantity  of  his  medicines,  and  on  the 
21st  ultimo  he  called  a  general  meeting,  which  I 
attended  with  Mr.  Cole,  with  our  Bibles.  Wo. 
found  this  deceiver  bowing  down  in  a  state  of 
perfect  nudity,  the  people  standing  around,  while 
he  spoke  to  a  stone  on  which  was  spilled  the  blood 
of  several  white  fowls,  and  to  which  was  oftered 
rice  boiled  with  palm-oil  and  the  fowls. 

The  chief  of  Sammah  is  among  those  who  are 
persuaded  to  pray  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  The 
chief  of  Compah  called  himself  to  see  me,  and 
begged  that  I  would  call  again  to  speak  to  them 
the  word  of  God.  J.  M.  "Williams. 

October  1, 1875, 

WAR    PARTY    ON    BARGROO. 

I  thank  God  that  we  are  still  in  good  health, 
and  that  no  war  has  disturbed  us  here.  As  soon 
as  the  Ramadan  Fast  was  over,  contrary  to  ex- 
pectation, the  war  party  made  a  raid  into  British 
Bargroo,   near   Mr.  Burton's   saw-mill.      Several 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  203 

towns  were  plundered  and  many  people  carried 
oft' — among  them  one  of  Mr.  Burton's  sawyers 
and  the  husband  of  his  school-mistress.  Mr. 
Davis,  the  commander  at  Bonth,  mustered  his 
police  force  and  went  to  the  war  barricade  and.  de- 
manded the  prisoners.  They  would  not  open  the 
barricade.  Mr.  Davis  ordered  his  men  to  cut 
through  it.  He  w^as  shot  through  the  neck,  hand, 
and  in  the  .breast,  and  four  policemen  were  killed 
on  the  spot.  Davis'  men  retreated,  carrying  him 
away  badly  wounded.  The  Kossoos,  it  is  said, 
now  killed  all  their  Sierra  Leone  prisoners,  among 
them  Mr.  Burton's  sawyer.  They  then  evacuated 
the  barricade  and  started  for  the  Kossoo  country. 
In  their  hasty  march  they  threw  away  their  baby 
prisoners  in  the  bushes.  One  was  picked  up  alive, 
and  others  were  found  dead.  Word  was  imme- 
diately sent  to  the  governor,  who  took  eighty 
soldiers,  and  I  believe  about  sixty  policemen,  and 
went  to  Bonth. 

I  landed  at  Freetown  on  the  night  of  December 
I3th,  and  found  Brother  Wolfe  there.  We  are 
preparing  to  start  for  Shengay  on  the  16th.  Small- 
pox is  still  raging  in  and  about  Shengay  and  Bom- 
phetook.  The  governor  has  caught  John  Caul- 
ker.    Commander  Davis  is  improving. 

On  the  22d  I  sent  Tom  up  the  Cockburrow  for 
Bome  rice.     He  landed  'at  one  of  the  towns  not 


204  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

yet  plundered,  but  it  was  full  of  Kossoo  warriors. 
A  number  of  the  Kossoos  were  there,  aud  seized 
the  boat  before  it  had  fairly  landed.  One,  in  at- 
tempting to  take  the  rudder  from  Tom,  got  worst- 
ed ;  for  Tom  clinched  him;  and  Tom  says,  "  I  show 
him  someting."  It  so  happened  that  there  was  a 
big  head-man  in  the  town  who  was  a  good  friend 
to  the  mission.  He  knew  Tom  and  the  mission- 
boat.  He  interfered  and  all  was  restored  a2:ain. 
They  gave  him  two  men  to  guard  him  and  his  rice 
while  he  was  there.  The  same  day  Brother  Wil- 
liams came  from  Bomphetook.  "We  went  up  the 
river  to  Tom. 

On  the  lltli  the  plundering  commenced,  aud  was 
kept  up,  at  intervals,  until  the  24th.  I  have  not 
felt  any  fears  that  they  would  trouble  us  at  the 
mission.  We  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  protect 
the  property,  and  leave  the  rest  with  God.  The 
people  are  saying,  already:  "Look  how  God 
great;  he  stop  dem  Kossoos  from  plunder  Bomphe- 
took and  Shengay."  Joseph  Gomer. 

November,  1875. 

THEY   HAD   NEVER   SEEN   GOD. 

It  was  6  o'clock  in  the  evening,  January  Slst, 
1876,  when  Rev.  A.  Menzies  and  myself  shoved 
out  in  the  little  mission-boat  Sandusky  for  Seneho, 
at  the  head  of  the  Bomphe  Biver.     By  10  o'clock 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  205 

we  were  in  the  river,  and  by  2:00  a.  m.  we  were  at 
Condobee,  wbere  there  is  a  large  trading-establish- 
ment belonging  to  a  Mr.  Zizer.  It  sits  high  up  on 
a  side  hill.  The  night  was  dark,  but  the  faithful 
watchman  had  a  bright  lire  burning  to  warn  off 
wild  animals,  sneak-thieves,  and  war-parties.  He 
met  us  at  the  wharf.  "Is  Mr.  Zizer  at  home?"  I 
asked.  "No,"  said  the  watchman;  "he  go  one 
town,  but  he  come  to-morrow."  "Well,  tell  Mr. 
Brown,  the  clerk,  strangers  come  to  see  him." 
"He  no  deh;  he  done  go  he  country."  "Is  Mrs. 
Zizer  here?"  "I^o."  "Well,  open  the  house, 
then  ;  we  wish  to  sleep  here  until  morning.  Our 
boat  is  too  small  to  sleep  in,  and  the  dew  is 
heavy."  "Wait  iirst,"  said  he;  and  wait  we  did, 
about  five  minutes,  when  he  returned  with  Mr. 
Zizer,  who  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome. 

Seneho  is  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
Eomphe  River.  We  wish  to  go  to  Tyami,  a  largo 
town  in  the  Mendi  country.  But  we  can  not  pass 
through  a  town  without  the  chief's  consent.  He 
is  not  at  home,  but  is  sent  for.  Toward  evening 
his  head-man  comes,  bringing  a  duck  as  a  present 
from  the  chief,  who  says  we  must  wait  for  him ; 
he  is  coming  just  now.  So  we  have  to  wait.  Mr. 
Parker,  the  head-man,  gives  us  a  large  board 
liouse  to  stay  in,  in  which  we  hold  a  meeting  at 
night.  Next  morning  the  chief  was  still  absent. 
We  waited  until  3:30  p.  m.,  when  we  left. 


206  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

At  7:30  p.  M.  we  reached  Yeaiiyeamali,  about 
twelve  miles  from  Seneho.  Here  we  found  the 
king  of  Tyami  and  several  of  his  chiefs.  They 
were  met  together  here  to  consult  each  other  and 
devise  the  best  means  for  catching  one  Karryba- 
hum,  who  had  assisted  in  plundering  some  towns 
in  British  Sherbro.  The  English  governor  had 
demanded  him  of  these  chiefs,  as  he  was  hiding 
in  their  territory.  These  chiefs  were  also  trying 
to  get  their  people  together  in  order  that  they 
might  collect  from  them  ten  thousand  bushels  of 
rice — a  fine  put  upon  them  by  the  governor. 
When  we  landed  the  news  spread  that  the  govern- 
or had  come  again,  and  many  of  the  people  ran 
away.  The  chiefs  said  they  could  not  let  us  go  to 
Tyami,  as  we  had  already  spoiled  their  work. 

In  answer  to  a  question  if  they  knew  anything 
about  God,  they  said  they  had  never  seen  him, 
as  he  had  never  been  to  their  town,  but  if  he  would 
come  there  they  would  be  glad. 

We  must  go  back;  and  when  this  palaver  is 
done  they  will  ncnd  us  word,  and  we  may  go  to 
Tyami — but  not  now,  because  the  people  would 
become  frightened  at  us.  Joseph  Gomer. 

February,  1876. 

'<  BIG-BIG    WITCH-BIRD." 

I  had  a  long  talk  with  Sateah-Kate  about  her 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  207 

children.  She  had  recently  left  Martin,  a  village 
up  the  Mamboo  River,  where  she  said  a  "big-big 
witch-bird  eat  all  her  pikins  "  (babies).  Two  of 
them  had  recently  died,  and  she  believed  that  a 
large  bird  which  lived  in  the  bush  and  made  a 
Btrange  noise  had  caused  the  death  of  her  children  ; 
and  she  would  not  go  to  live  there  again.  I  tried 
to  show  her  that  these  birds  have  no  power  over 
people.  I  told  her  that  I  believed  God  was 
very  angry  with  her  because  she  tied  charms  and 
gregrees  on  her  children,  and  when  they  were  sick 
trusted  in  them  and  in  the  country-fashion  man  to 
cure  them ;  so  God  took  them.  She  says  tliat  I 
have  got  a 'big  devil,  and  turn  the  people's  heads. 
She  will  not  believe  what  I  tell  her.  I  return  to 
the  mission.  I  see  a  sail  far  out  at  sea.  It  heads 
toward  the  mission.  It  is  the  church  missionary 
boat,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Menzies  is  in  it. 

"Next  morning,  with  Thomas  Caulker,  and  four 
school-bo3^s  to  sing,  we  go  by  way  of  the  sandy 
beach  to  Tassah.  I  look  into  the  huts  to  say  good- 
morning.  In  one  a  man  is  lying  on  a  mat  spread 
on  the  ground.  His  face  and  body  are  smeared  all 
over  with  clay.  On  inquiring  the  cause,  he  said 
"  he  yet  yanger  sick."  "Yanger"  means  gentry, 
or  genteel.  The  natives  will  not  speak  the  word 
"  small-pox," — that  was  what  ailed  him.  They 
must  speak  well  of  the  disease,  and  call  it  by  nice 


208  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

names.  A  woman  in  one  hut  is  sitting  on  a  mat 
by  the  fire,  her  body,  limbs,  and  face  covered  with 
Bores.  She  would  come  to  meeting,  but  "sick 
won't  let  her."  She  wants  us  to  give  her  some 
tobacco.  We  hold  a  short  meeting  ;  there  are  only 
nineteen  present  besides  our  own  party.  We  go 
to  Shooney.  The  tide  is  up,  and  we  have  to  cross 
a  creek,  one  at  a  time,  in  a  very  small  paddle- 
canoe.  The  boys  swim.  After  meeting,  one  man 
wants  to  see  me  privately  in  his  hut.  He  gets  his 
god,  gives  it  to  me,  and  says  :  "Take  um;  I  no 
want  um  again."  It  was  the  tooth  of  some  large 
animal,  perhaps  a  hippopotamus.  From  here  we 
went  to  Cattail.  Here  Daniel  Party,  one  of  our 
former  school-boys,  has  built  for  us  a  small  barra. 
At  the  former  places  our  meetings  were  in  the 
open  air.  By  10:00  a.  m.  we  are  all  back  to  the  mis- 
sion, having  held  three  meetings. 

Joseph  Gomer.  • 

March,  1876. 

"GOD   DONE    TAKE    THE    COUNTRY." 

With  the  beginning  of  the  year  it  seemed  as 
though  Satan  had  awakened  out  of  a  sleep,  shook 
himself,  and  set  to  work  in  earnest,  putting  forth 
every  effort  in  his  j)ower  to  hinder  the  progress  of 
the  gospel  in  this  field  of  labor.  He  selected  for 
his  prime  agent  John  Caulker,  a  Mohammedan. 
It  would  have  been  very  difficult  for  him  to  choose 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  209 

a  more  energetic  or  daring  person.  But,  thanks 
be  to  God,  he  has  given  us  the  victory.  John 
Caulker  and  his  accomplices  are  to-day  in  Free- 
town jail,  and  all  his  eflbrts  to  put  out  the  fire 
which  the  gospel  has  kindled  have  only  acted  as 
so  much  oil  thrown  into  the  flames.  I  can  not 
describe  to  you  the  effect  produced  upon  the  minds 
of  the  people  throughout  the  country  by  the 
capture  of  John  Caulker  and  his  war  party  by  the 
Sierra  Leone  government.  The  Purrow  beast  has 
received  a  death-wound  in  its  forehead,  while 
slavery  in  this  immediate  vicinity  is  gasping  for 
breath.  We  missionaries  and  our  little  band  of 
converts  are  filled  with  joy  and  gladness,  because 
our  ears  are  constantly  being  greeted  with  the 
Bound,  ^^  Allah  hoc  barro"  (God  is  great).  From 
the  beginning  Ave  told  the  people  that  this  was 
God's  war,  and  that  he  would  mind  all  of  his  peo- 
ple and  bring  them  good  out  of  it.  jN'ot  one 
Christian  to  our  knowledge  suftercd  except  the 
women  of  Kooloug.  Quite  a  number  of  slaves 
have  lost  their  masters,  and  three  masters  who 
were  professors  of  religion  have  lost  their  slaves. 
The  small-pox  has  been  raging  in  Shengay  and  the 
surrounding  villages  for  two  months,  and  is  still 
prevalent.  Many  have  died.  As  soon  as  they  are 
taken  with  it  they  are  carried  into  the  bush,  to  a 
farm-house.     Many  people  come  from  the  villages 


210  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

to  attend  worship,  both  at  Shengay  and  Bomphe- 
took.  The  people  confess  freely  that  the  Purrow 
is  of  no  use.  They  say,  "  God  done  take  the 
country." 

Ten  were  received  into  the  Church  this  quarter. 
We  have  at  Shengay  thirty-nine  members,  all  told. 
Seven  are  under  watch-care.  Five  of  these  are 
women  who  profess  religion  but  who  are  the  wives 
of  polygamists.  Two  are  men  who  profess,  but 
we  thought  best  to  take  them  on  trial.  There  are 
nine  in  the  seekers'  class.  Two  of  our  members 
have  died  this  quarter,  namely,  Peter  Stafford  and 
Hannah.  When  Brother  Stafford  could  no  longer 
speak,  he  raised  his  hand  and  pointed  upward,  at 
the  same  time  looking  up  and  smiling. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

A  whole  town  put  to  flight. 

A  week  ago  yesterday  Brothers  Gomer  and 
"Williams  and  myself  started  for  Turtle  Islands  to 
see  what  opportunity  we  might  find  there  for  do- 
ing good.  And  truly  the  opportunities  are  great; 
for  I  think  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  human  beings 
more  degraded  than  they.  At  the  first  two  islands 
at  which  we  stopped  there  were  but  few  persons 
living.  We  talked  with  them  some  about  God 
who  made  them,  and  Jesus  their  Savior.  From 
this  place  we  went  to  the  largest  town  and  island 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  2ll 

of  the  group.  When  the  people  of  that  place 
saw  me,  and  saw  that  we  were  landing  at  their 
town,  they  all — except  one  girl  who  had  been  to 
Bomphetook,  and  had  become  acquainted  with 
Brother  Williams, — became  so  frightened  that 
they  gathered  up  what  things  they  could  carry  and 
ran  and  hid  themselves  in  the  bush,  leaving  their 
cassada  over  the  fire  cooking.  This  is  the  first 
time  I  ever  knew  I  was  such  a  terrible-looking 
object  as  to  put  a  whole  town  to  flight — especially 
one  having  two  devil-houses,  and  medicine  hang- 
ing at  every  door  and  on  every  tree  about  the 
town  for  the  purpose  of  taking  care  of  them. 
After  considerable  search  the  hoatmen  found  the 
young  chief,  or  head-man  of  the  town,  and  got 
him  to  come  back.  We  gave  him  a  quenanny,  and 
told  him  we  had  not  come  to  harm  him  or  his 
people,  but  to  do  theiTi  good,  to  tell  them  of  God, 
and  that  we  wanted  to  stay  in  his  town  that  night. 
He  gave  us  permission  to  stay.  We  selected  a 
barra  as  our  place  for  the  night,  and  put  up  our 
hammocks  to  sleep  in.  We  would  have  had  a 
very  comfortable  place  had  it  not  been  for  the  fleas 
and  the  mosquitoes.  We  set  our  cook  to  work  to 
get  us  something  to  eat,  and  sent  the  chief  in 
search  of  his  people.  About  eight  o'clock  he  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  greater  part  of  them  back, 
after  which  we  each  did  some  talking.    I  never  wit- 


212  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

nessed  better  order  or  better  attention  than  they 
gave.  The  next  day  we  went  to  another  island, 
about  seven  miles  farther  at  sea.  Here  we  found 
a  few  persons  who  were  in  a  state  of  entire  nudity. 
At  this  place  we  anchored  a  little  distance  at  sea, 
and  slept  in  our  boat.  The  next  day  about  noon  we 
started  for  home,  and  got  there  at  dusk  Thursday 
evening.  These  scenes  and  this  experience  makes 
my  soul  cry  within  me.  Why  is  it  that  there  are 
so  few  Christian  workers  here  in  this  dark,  be- 
nighted land?  Oh,  why  is  it?  Truly  the  harvest 
is  great,  and  the  laborers  are  few.  0  Lord,  send  forth 
more  laborers.  Trusting  in  God,  I  will  do  the 
best  I  can.  Joseph  Wolfe. 

March,  1876. 

DAVID    CASSAMBOE. 

On  the  north  bank  of  the  Yaltucher  River, 
about  two  miles  from  its  mouth,  in  the  midst  of 
the  thick  bush,  is  the  little  village  of  Mosam.  It 
was  in  this  village  that  the  hero  of  this  story  was 
born;  and  they  called  him  Kong,  because  that  was 
his  name.  It  is  the  custom  in  that  country  to  call 
every  first  boy  by  that  name;  and  every  first  girl 
is  called  Bwoy. 

One  day,  when  little  Kong  was  large  enough  to 
run  about  and  get  into  mischief,  his  father  took 
him  to  the  Purrow  bush  and  gave  him  to  the  Pur- 
row  devil.     Now  the  Purrow  devil   is   not   that 


IN   AVESTERN    AFRICA.  213 

cloven-footed  evil  spirit  that  you  cliildren  dread  so 
much,  but  a  man,  one  of  the  chief  officers  of  the 
society.  He  took  little  Kong,  anointed  him  all 
over  with  oil,  and  rubbed  him  with  what  they  call 
"lacah,"  a  kind  of  white  clay;  and  he  said  his 
name  must  be  Contam.  He  is  now  returned  to 
his  mother,  with  his  new  name. 

Shortly  after  this  Kong's  parents  heard  that 
some  missionaries  had  come  to  Shengay,  about  one 
day's  walk  from  their  place.  These  missionaries 
were  from  America,  and  had  come  to  teach  chil- 
dren to  read  books,  and  to  sabba  (know)  God.  The 
parents  thought  they  would  like  for  little  Kong,  or 
Contam,  to  learn  to  read  books  and  to  know  God ; 
for  you  must  know  that  they  were  both  heathen 
at  this  time,  and  knew  nothing  about  God.  The 
mother  had  visited  Shengay  and  attended  the 
meetings  held  by  the  missionaries ;  so  she  urged 
that  little  Kong,  or  Contam,  should  be  given  to  the 
missionaries  altogether.  The  father  brought  him 
and  gave  him  to  them,  and,  knowing  that  mission- 
aries are  not  Purrow-men,  he  supposed  that  a 
Purrow  name  would  not  do;  so  he  asked  the  king's 
son  what  name  he  must  give  the  boy,  and  it  was 
agreed  that  he  be  called  David  Cassamboe,  as  the 
father's  name  was  Cassamboe. 

Little  David  commenced  at  once  to  attend 
school,  and  learned  very  fast  to  speak  English  and 


214  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

to  read.  After  he  had  got  so  he  could  read  in  the 
Bible  he  attended  the  boys'  Bible-class,  taught  by 
Thomas  Caulker,  Tuesday  nights.  On  our  way 
home  from  the  class,  one  night,  in  answer  to  my 
question  as  to  what  their  lesson  was  about,  he  said 
they  "been  read  'bout  where  dem  people  keep 
meetin'  dey  get  one  gate  name  Beautiful,  an'  dem 
carry  one  man  what  no  liable  for  walker  and  lay 
him  dere  to  beg  dem  people  for  copper  [tliey 
call  all  money  copper];  and  when  Peter  and 
John  want  for  go  in,  he  say,  '  Come,  gie  me  cop- 
per, now.'  Peter  say,  '  I  no  get,  but  dat  ting  what 
I  get  I  go  gie  you  ;  get  up  walk,  now.'  So  he  be- 
gin for  walker."  Joseph  Gomer. 

THE    BOYS   AT  SHENGAY. 

Among  the  boys  at  Shengay,  some  are  very  in- 
teresting and  some  have  very  interesting  names. 
Very  often  children,  when  only  a  few  months  old, 
are  given  to  persons  living  in  another  village,  to 
be  raised,  and  seldom  see  their  mother  or  father, — 
in  fact,  the  father  is  very  little  thought  of  by 
many.  Numbers  of  the  people  believe  that 
strangers  can  raise  their  children  better  than  the 
parents.  They  say  that  the  children  will  mind 
strangers  better ;  and  this,  in  many  cases,  is  true, 
because  the  parents  do  not  know  how  to  gain  their 
children's  love,  but  say  they  must  whip  them  to 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  215 

make  them  fear  them.  Some  have  one  name  and 
some  liave  two. 

Garilla  is  a  real  smart  little  fellow,  just  about  a 
yard  high.  He  can  read  the  Bibl-e,  and  takes  great 
delight  in  committing  verses  to  memory  and  in 
singing,  "  We  are  toiling  up  the  way."  Little 
Garilla  is  a  faithful  Sabbath-school  pupil,  and  a 
great  favorite  with  all  who  know  him. 

Harry  Yarn  is  a  big  boy.  His  father  is  the 
head-man  for  a  country  village,  and  carves  wooden 
gods  for  the  heathen  to  worship.  He  carved  one 
which  is  in  the  mission-rooms  in  Dayton,  Ohio. 
Sometimes  the  school-boys  in  Shengay  laugh  at 
Harry  and  make  fun  of  him  because  his  father 
makes  wooden  gods ;  but  Harry  says  nothing,  for 
he  is  a  good  boy  and  is  trying  to  be  a  Christian. 
He,  too,  is  a  dear  lover  of  the  Sabbath -school. 
His  father  sent  him  to  Shengay  to  attend  the  mis- 
sion-school and  to  "  learn  white  man's  fashion." 

Little  Tommy  Reader  was  a  dear  little  boy,  and 
his  mother  is  a  good  woman.  She  taught  Tommy 
to  say  his  prayers,  morning  and  evening,  and  to 
usk  a  blessing  before  eating.  He  used  to  say  he 
wanted  to  be  a  missionary.  He  would  go  all 
through  the  village  and  enter  the  huts  and  barras, 
and  if  he  saw  people  eating  he  would  ask  them  if 
they  prayed  first ;  if  they  had  not,  he  would  tell 
them  they  must  pray  first  and  then  God  would 


216  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

like  them,  but  if  tliey  eat  without  praying  God 
would  not  like  them.  Frequently  on  meeting- 
nights  he  would  go  through  the  village  asking  the 
people  to  come  to  the  meeting  and  pray,  so  the 
war  could  not  spoil  the  country.  But  poor  little 
Tommy  was  taken  sick  very  suddenly,  one  day, 
while  playing  on  the  sand-beach,  and  in  a  few 
hours  his  spirit  was  with  God. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

WHAT   have   we   IN   AFRICA? 

We  have  at  Shengay  a  large  day-school  and  a 
still  larger  Sunday-school,  an  organized  society  of 
over  forty  members,  and  quite  a  number  of  others 
who  profess  religion, — some  of  whom  are  Chris- 
tians, but  are  not  entirely  free  from  polygamy, 
slavery,  and  the  Purrow, — who  in  due  time  will 
become  members  of  the  Church.  There  is  also 
here  an  excellent  mission-residence ;  and  there  are 
two  chapels, — one  in  Shengay,  which  will  accom- 
modate one  hundred  and  fifty  people,  and  the  neat 
new  stone  chapel,  on  the  mission-ground,  which 
accommodates  two  hundred  and  twenty.  Tlie  one 
^hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  which  we  own  here 
constitutes  the  healthiest  and  most  accessible  place 
on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  among  the  heathen 
proper.  At  Bomphetook  we  have  an  excellent 
country  chapel,  and   a  church  of  about  twenty 


IN   WESTERN  AFRICA.  217 

members.  Here  too,  is  both  a  day  and  Sunday 
school.  This  place  is  also  on  the  coast,  and  but 
fifteen  miles  farther  down  than  Shengay.  A  few 
towns  still  farther  on,  and  the  seven  or  eight 
between  Boraphetook  and  Shengay,  may  all  b6 
easily  reached;  and  most  of  them  have  been  visited 
occasionally  by  our  missionaries.  What  have  we 
in  Africa  ?  A  small  but  good  beginning  made, 
with  scores  of  open  doors  of  usefulness  inviting  us 
to  enter  and  convert  the  people  from  the  error  of 
their  ways.  We  have  in  Africa  thousands  of  souls 
to  enlighten  and  save. 

Among  the  number  who  joined  the  Church  at 
its  first  organization  in  1874  was  a  woman  named 
Hannah,  a  convert  who  did  it  amid  keen  opposi- 
tion. Her  husband  beat  her  severely  for  joining 
the  Church;  but  having  found  Christ  precious  as 
a  Savior  from  sin,  she  continued  faithful  until 
death,  which  occurred  nine  months  afterward. 
In  the  beautiful  and  touching  words  of  Rev.  J". 
W.  Hott,  how  true  it  was  of  her  that  "  while 
her  body  sunk  down  into  death,  her  soul 
rose  up  higher  and  higher  until  it  shook  hands 
with  Christ  and  the  angels.  From  the  shaded 
shores  of  Africa  pure  spirits  are  l>eing  caught 
up  to  God,  washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
Oh,  it  must  be  wondrously  glorious  to  get 
right  up  out  of  heathenism,  and  shake  oft'  all  ii;3 


218  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

misery  and  superstition  and  death,  and  burst 
right  into  the  heavenly  mansion !  I  should  like 
to  see  these  poor  souls  when  they  first  open  their 
eyes  on  the  beauty  and  bliss  of  that  blessed  city  of 
Jesus." 

Another  one  of  our  members  there  died,  who 
was  saved  in  the  kingdom  of  grace,  and  of  whom 
Brother  Gomer  wrote,  "Brother  Williams  and 
myself  on  yesterday  attended  the  funeral  of  the 
old  mat-maker,  !N"a  Yan  Kin.  She  was  nearly 
eighty  years  of  age,  and  a  slave.  She  died  in  the 
faith,  trusting  in  Jesus.  When  I  have  more  time 
I  wish  to  write  to  you  of  her  life,  and  of  her 
daughter  who  died  a  few  months  ago ;  how  Yan 
Kin  died ;  how  they  wrapped  her  in  a  mat,  tied 
her  to  a  pole,  and  buried  her  two  feet  deep." 
This  old  woman  would  not  attend  meeting  for  a 
long  time,  because  she  had  but  one  eye ;  but  over 
three  years  ago  she  was  converted,  and  abandoned 
work  on  the  Sabbath-day,  and  lived  a  Christian. 
*'From  that  far-off  land  souls  are  going  to  dwell 
with  Jesus.  Some  of  our  missionaries,  who  were 
once  in  Africa,  but  are  now  in  heaven,  must  rejoice 
to  see  the  converted  heathen  coming  to  sit  down 
in  the  kingdom  of  God."  In  short,  we  have  a  good 
deal  in  Africa,  and  a  few  souls  in  heaven,  as  tlie 
results  of  our  labor  among  the  Sherbro  people. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  219 

TWENTY   YEARS    AGO. 

On  the  third  day  of  December,  1856,  seven  mis- 
sionaries sailed  out  of  New  York,  bound  for  the 
west  coast  of  Africa,  and  after  a  long  and  tedious 
passage  they  arrived  in  this  far-off"  land.  One  of 
the  number  died  in  less  than  three  months, 
another  returned  home  in  a  short  time,  anotlier 
continued  here  some  fifteen,  months  and  also  re- 
turned home,  another  died  and  was  buried  in  mid- 
ocean.  Two  are  now  in  the  United  States,  one  is 
in  Scotland,  and  your  humble  servant  is  now  in 
•Africa. 

Twenty  years  ago  this  part  of  the  Sherbro  coun- 
try was  without  the  gospel.  Very  few  had  ever 
heard  of  a  Savior.  The  grounds  upon  which  the 
station  is  built  were  in  bush.  The  large  cotton- 
tree  in  front  of  the  mission-house  was  unapproach- 
able, because  "  Medicine  live  deh."  I  said,  '^Non- 
sense; cut  away  the  bush;  prepare  the  way  for  the 
mission  ;  make  the  place  clean."  To-day  flowers 
and  fruits  are  growing  on  the  borders  of  the  walks 
in  the  shade  of  this  cotton-tree. 

Twenty  years  ago  the  town  of  Shengay  was  the 
scene  of  cruelties  such  as  are  common  to  a  heathen 
people.  The  Purrow  was  in  full  force.  The  Pur- 
row  devil  lived  like  a  prince  until  your  humble 
servant  frightened  him  out  of  his  wits  one  night, 


220  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

when  lie  ran  into  the  bush.  To-day  the  Piirrow 
does  not  control  the  common  people. 

Twenty  years  ago  the  Christian  Sabbath  was 
not  known.  'No  religious  services  had  been  held  ; 
Christ  had  not  been  preached  to  the  people.  To- 
day the  Sabbath  is  better  observed  there  than 
in  France,  or  even  in  portions  of  New  York  City. 
To-day  men,  women,  and  children  assemble  for 
morning  prayers  and  services  at  10:00  a.  m.,  Sun- 
day-school at  3:00  P.  m.,  and  services  again  in  the 
evening.  The  "tom-tom,"  or  African  drum,  is 
not  heard  on  the  Sabbath  as  it  was  twenty  years 
ago. 

Eighteen  years  ago,  while  building  the  mission- 
house,  I  had  a  law  forbidding  any  one  in  the  em- 
ployment of  the  mission  to  go  to  Shengay  on  the 
Sabbath  to  "  beat  drum  "  or  dance.  That  law  was 
violated  by  one  Bgannah.  On  Monday  morning 
"  Tong  "  came  and  told  me  what  had  been  done. 
I  called  all  the  people  and  explained  again  why 
the  law  had  been  made,  and  wherein  it  had  now 
been  violated.  I  felt  it  to  be  a  very  serious  case, 
and  by  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  enabled  to 
so  impress  the  wrongfulness  of  this  violation  of 
mission-law  on  the  minds  of  the  young  men 
that  they  not  only  asked  my  forgiveness,  but 
also  begged  God's  mercy.  Eleven  young  men 
gave    their  names,   expressing    a  willingness  to 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  221 

receive  the  truth.  Among  the  number  was 
"  Tong,"  a  heathen  boy,  now  Thomas  Tucker,  a 
Christian  man.  Oh,  what  a  transformation ! 
From   Tong   to   Thomas  is    nothing,    but    from 

heathen  Tong  to  Christian  Thomas  is  something. 
This  Thomas  is  not  only  a  Christian  in  name,  but 
in  fact.  This  is  the^most  wonderful  and  best  part 
of  it.  Twenty  years  ago  the  dark  night  of  igho- 
rance  covered  the  minds  of  the  people.  To-day 
pen,  ink,  and  paper,  newspapers  and  books,  are  in 
requisition.  J.  K.  Billheimee. 

Shengay  Station,  West  Africa,  January  3, 1877. 

MISSION  STOCK,  VISIT  TO  MAMBO  AND  MASSAMA. 

The  canoe,  with  the  mission  stock  of  six  head 
of  cattle,  iive  sheep,  and  one  horse,  landed  at  the 
mission  on  the  10th.  The  sea  was  rough,  and  one 
of  the  cattle  got  sick  crossing  the  bay  and  died  in 
the  night.  The  rest  are  now  doing  well.  "We 
put  the  yoke  on  the  oxen  yesterday  for  the  first 
time.  They  are  like  many  of  the  people — do 
everything  wrong,  and  do  not  want  to  work. 
This  part  of  the  work  I  have  to  trust  wholly  to 
Mr.  Keen,  an  American  colored  man  that  I  have 
hired.  When  I  came  from  Freetown  last  week  I 
brought  with  me  Mr.  Hero,  a  man  fifty -two  years 
of  age,  and  an  ordained  minister.  He  has  been 
preaching  nineteen  years ;  was  eleven  years  a  mis- 


222  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

sionary  on  McCarthy's  Island,  and  tauglit  scliool 
thirteen  years  in  Sierra  Leone  in  his  early  life. 
He  has  been  with  us  two  Sabbaths.  He  preaches 
well.  He  is  a  native  African.  He — with  his 
wife's  assistance,  who  is  a  good  Christian  woman, 
— is  to  teach  school  and  preach  at  Mambo,  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Dayton,  Ohio,  Summit  Street  Sabbath- 
school.  He  came  with  me  just  to  see  how  he 
liked  the  place,  and  how  we  should  like  him. 

Yesterday  I  went  uj>  with  him  to  Mambo. 
Our  chief,  George  Caulker,  gave  me  a  letter  to 
Prince  William,  but  he  was  not  at  home.  The 
Purrow  devil  had  caught  his  young  brother — the 
one  that  came  to  see  us  about  the  school — and  had 
him  in  the  Purrow  bush.  The  house  the  chief  is 
building  is  not  finished,  but  Bannah  Boom,  the 
head-man  of  the  town,  promised  to  give  Mr.  Hero 
a  house  until  the  chief  returns. 

When  we  went  to  Massama,  in  the  Great  Scar- 
ces  River,  in  the  Timiny  country,  in  search  of 
cattle  for  the  mission.  King  Bey  Farmer  received 
us  very  cordially.  A  curious  kind  of  brass  imago, 
and  one  of  clay,  stood  at  the  entrance  of  his  hut. 
These  were  made  by  the  French,  and  sold  to  the 
king.  The  people  here  are  a  mixture  of  Moham- 
medans and  Kaffres.  The  king  is  a  Mohammedan. 
I  gave  him  an  Arabic  Bible.  His  brother  is  a 
priest.     I  preached  in  the  mosque  at  night.     The 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  223 

place  could  not  contain  all  the  people.  After  speak- 
ing a  short  time  on  the  creation  of  man,  his  fall, 
and  Christ  the  Savior,  they  all  shouted,  "Talk 
more.  We  can't  deny  the  word.  Talk  again. 
"We  are  glad  for  this  word.  Tell  me  plenty!" 
The  king  himself  arose  and  made  quite  a  speech. 
Early  the  next  morning — Sabbath  morning — the 
king  came  to  my  house  and  asked  me  to  go  with 
him  to  the  grave  of  his  son  and  kill  a  cow, — all 
cattle  are  cows  with  the  Africans, — and  help  to 
make  sacrifice  at  the  grave.  As  I  was  a  big  foda 
I  must  olFer  the  sacrifice.  His  son  had  been  dead 
twenty  days.  He  was  a  stranger  in  the  place 
where  he  had  gone.  The  people  there  would  ask 
him  where  he  came  from,  and  what  he  bring  to  eat, 
and  a  lot  of  such  talk.  I  saw  plainly  this  was  a 
trick  of  the  devil  to  spoil  my  meeting  here  to-day. 
The  Mohammedan  priests  present  at  the  meeting 
saw  the  situation,  and  this  sacrifice  was  a  trick  of 
theirs.  At  11:00  a.  m.  I  had  a  meeting,  and  but 
few  were  present.  Most  of  them  went  with  the 
king.  In  the  afternoon  I  went  by  land  to  Gambia, 
distant  about  five  miles.  The  old  king,  San  Ali- 
mammi  Labare,  received  me  very  kindly.  This  is 
a  very  large  town;  not  less  than  2,000  people. 
They  got  up  a  large  meeting  in  the  king's  yard. 
He  begged  me  hard  to  hold  meetings  there  all  the 
time.  J.  Gomi:r. 


224  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

RECEPTION    OF   MISSIONARIES, 

As  all  the  other  missionaries  have  written  of  our 
journey,  I  come  in  last.  We  are  now  at  the  end 
of  our  voyage.  "We  left  Freetown  on  Friday,  De- 
cember 22d,  and  when  nearing  the  mission  cannon 
were  tired  in  Shengay.  The  king  has  two  brass 
cannon,  and  four  salutes  were  fired  from  them. 
Brother  Wolfe  having  preceded  us  had  the  large 
American  flag  run  up,  and  also  a  small  one,  dis- 
playing their  beautiful  stars  and  stripes  from  the 
top  of  the  oleander-tree.  A  large  crowd  of  men, 
women,  and  children  met  us  at  the  wharf,  and 
we  were  borne  ashore  amid  deafening  shouts, 
hurrahs,  and  cheering.  It  made  us  think  of  the 
reception  we  received  on  our  return  to  America, 
minus  the  refreshments  and  speeches. 

Sabbath  morning  Flickinger  Chapel  was  well 
filled.  People  were  there  from  Shooney,  Cattah, 
and  Tissanah.  We  were  welcomed  on  entering 
with  a  song  by  the  school-children.  The  Sabbath- 
school  and  evening  services  were  also  well  attend- 
ed. Our  service  on  Christmas  was  very  interest- 
ing. We  had  a  Christmas-tree  at  night,  with  a 
present  for  most  of  the  people,  and  speaking  by 
the  children.  Mr.  Gomer  and  myself  attended 
two  meetings  last  Sabbath  morning,  one  at 
Shooney   and    one   at    Cattah.      Brother    Wolfe 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  225 

preached  at  Shengay  at  11:00  a.  m.  MrrBillheimer 
arrived  at  our  mission-wharf  yesterday  ahout  9:00 
A.  M.,  remained  during  the  day,  and  conducted  the 
prayer-meeting  in  Shengay  at  night.  "We  are 
having  a  week  of  prayer.  "We  have  just  returned i 
from  prayer-meeting.  The  subject  for  to-night 
was  woman's  missionary  work,  and  missionary 
work  generally.  We  are  all  enjoying  good  health, 
except  Brother  Wolfe.  He  is  sutferihg  very  much. 
Ixemember  us  ever  in  your  prayers. 

Mary  W.  Gomer. 

about  things  in  africa. 

You  would  laugh  to  see  what  queer  little  houses 
the  people  live  in.  They  are  built  of  sticks  and 
daubed  with  mud.  I  have  seen  some  not  larger 
than  ten  feet  square.  People  seem  to  live  in  them 
peaceably  and  happily ;  indeed,  they  must  be  peace- 
able or  such  a  wee  bit  of  a  house  would  not  hold 
them.  You  will  be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that 
the  women  do  most  of  the  building.  The  men 
put  up  the  frame-work  of  sticks  and  the  women 
do  the  daubing  or  plastering. 

The  other  evening  I  went  out  for  a  walk;  and 
what  do  you  think  I  saw  ?     A  great  stream  of 
ants  that  the  people  call  "  drivers."     The  reason 
they  gave  them  such  a  strange  name  is,  they  driv 
out  everything  where  they  are,  such  as  rats,  mice, 

15 


226  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

lizzards,  centipedes,  etc.  Even  elephants'and  boa- 
constrictors  fear  them.  It  is  said  that  they  will 
kill  and  eat  up  the  largest  animals.  One  alone  can 
not  do  so  much ;  neither  can  two,  nor  half  a 
dozen  ;  but  they  club  together,  and  in  that  way  ac- 
complish what  a  few  could  not  do.  It  would  be 
well  for  us,  in  doing  good,  to  follow  their  ex- 
ample. 

How  would  you  like  to  be  drawn  in  a  baby-car- 
riage wherever  you  go  ?  "Well,  that  is  about  the 
way  we  travel  in  Africa.  "We  do  not  have  baby- 
carriages,  but  something  almost  like  them;  we 
have  "  sedan-chairs,"  and  they  are  drawn  by  the 
natives.  The  sun  shines  so  hot  here  that  we  can 
not  walk  as  much  as  we  can  in  a  colder  country. 

Only  about  two  hundred  feet  from  the  mission- 
house,  near  the  sea,  stands  a  grand  old  cotton- 
tree.  Just  now  it  is  covered  with  beautiful  white 
cotton.  The  people  here  do  not  like  the  cotton 
that  grows  on  trees.  They  think  if  they  use  it  in 
pillows,  and  sleep  on  them,  it  will  make  them 
crazy. 

Not  long  ago  I  visited  the  school  at  Shengay, 
and  saw  a  monkey  in  an  oleander-tree.  As  soon 
as  he  saw  me  he  scampered  down  and  came 
right  to  me.  When  he  saw  that  I  had  nothing  for 
him  he  ran  away,  climbed  up  on  the  back  of  a 
bench  where  one  of  the  children  was  standing, 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  227' 

and  commenced  picking  in  her  hair  as  if  looking 
for  something. 

"We  have  eleven  goats  here.      Sometimes  they 
supply  us  with  milk.    Just  now  they  give  none. 

A.  Lizzie  Bowman. 


SHENGAY    NIGHT-SCHOOL,    BOMPHETOOK,    ROTUFUNK. 

This  school  was  organized  early  in  February,  in 
the  dining-room  of  the  mission-house,  with  twen- 
ty-one scholars.  The  second  night  the  room  was 
crowded — chairs  and  benches  all  full ;  and  many 
sat  on  the  floor,  so  that  it  was  difiicult  to  get  about 
to  teach  them.  So  many  continued  to  attend  that 
it  was  necessary  to  remove  the  school  to  the 
chapel.  There  are  now  sixty  scholars  enrolled. 
Willie  Caulker,  the  chief's  son,  is  assistant  teach- 
er. His  wife  is  in  one  of  my  classes,  and  is  an 
interesting  woman.  Several  Avomen  attend  the 
school.  Some  bring  their  babies  with  them. 
These  are  placed  on  the  floor  and  left  to  amuse 
themselves  while  their  mothers  study.  Tlic  little 
ones  are  usually  very  good,  and  seem  as  luippy  in 
school  as  their  parents.  Could  the  friends  of  tbc 
Woman's  Missionary  Association  witness  these 
Sherbro  women  poring  over  their  books,  they 
would  no  doubt  feel  greatly  encouraged  to  press 
on  in  their  efforts  to  enlighten  and  save  them. 


228  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

The  school  was  opened  for  the  purpose  of  teach- 
ing the  people  to  read  the  Bible  for  themselves. 
Many  who  are  obliged  to  work  during  the  day, 
and  others  too  old  to  attend  the  day-school,  are 
glad  to  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity. 
Gospel  seed  is  sown  every  school-night.  I  read  a 
portion  of  scripture,  which  is  interpreted  into 
Sherbro,  as  is  also  the  prayer.  Sometimes  Mr. 
Thomas  Tucker,  who  is  a  member  of  the  school, 
leads  in  prayer  in  the  Sherbro  language. 

I  came  to  Bomphetook  on  the  1st  of  May,  and 
found  an  interesting  day-school  and  Sunday- 
school.  There  are  between  twenty  and  thirty 
pupils  in  the  day-school,  and,  I  think,  over  thirty 
in  the  Sabbath-school.  I  have  charge  of  the 
night-school  four  nights  a  week.  It  is  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition.  I  have  .a  sewing-class  of  eight. 
They  meet  to  sew  for  about  an  hour  four  days  a 
week.  On  Wednesday  evening  we  have  prayer- 
meeting,  which  is  usually  well  attended,  twenty - 
eight  being  there  last  night.  So  also  is  the  meet- 
ing Sunday  evenings.  There  is  a  boy  by  the  name 
of  John  Williams,  thirteen  years  of  age,  who  has 
helped  me  much  in  the  night-school,  bringing  in 
scholars.  Sometimes  he  takes  part  in  the  prayer- 
meetings.  We  have  another  John,  whose  father 
is  a  rum-seller.  He  is  one  of  the  best  scholars  in 
school.     lie  has  also  prayed  in  meeting 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  229 

If  we  succeed  in  getting  established  at  E,otu- 
funk,  the  ladies  will  have  the  finest  station  of  the 
Sherbro  Mission.  The  prospect  is  bright  for  ac- 
complishing a  great  work  at  that  place. 

E.  Beeken. 

May  31, 1877. 

PULLING    THE    BUNDOO. 

A  country-woman  who  is  the  mistress  of  a 
white  trader  at  Boonth  came  here  and  asked  the 
chief,  George  Caulker,  that  the  Bundoo  women 
might  pull  her,  as  they  call  it,  out  of  the  Bundoo. 
Some  years  ago  she  was  put  in  the  Bundoo-bush 
and  was  rubbed  with  the  clay,  but  was  never 
properly  pulled,  which  is  quite  a  long  ceremony 
of  singing,  dancing,  and  drinking  rum.  The  head 
Bundoo-woman  must  carry  a  hamper  of  the  medi- 
cines on  her  head,  in  the  procession.  The  head- 
woman  for  these  parts  lives  at  Shengay  and  is  a 
faithful  member  of  our  church.  You  received  her 
when  you  dedicated  the  chapel  here.  The  chief 
said  he  would  not  allow  anything  of  the  kind  in 
Shengay.  She  then  went  to  Debia  and  got  per- 
mission from  the  head-woman  to  be  pulled  three. 
Debia,  you  know,  is  but  a  short  mile  from  Shen- 
gay. She  then  came  here  for  Keffay  Mehany,  the 
old  head-woman,  to  carry  the  "  blie,"  or  hamper. 
Keffay  refused  to  go,  saying  she  had  no  business 
there  again,  as  she  had  "  done  lefi"  dat  long  time." 


230  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

She  got  others  to  try  to  persuade  her,  but  in  vain. 
The  woman  then  returned  to  Debia,  got  a  party 
of  women,  and  came  and  took  her  by  force.  This 
was  on  Thursday  afternoon,  the  18th.  At  the 
prayer-meeting  that  night  the  women  discussed 
the  matter,  and  after  the  meeting  was  over  they 
went  to  Debia  and  brought  her  back  by  force. 
Keflay  was  frightened,  and  was  very  much  afraid  I 
would  turn  her  out  of  the  meeting.  She  got  some 
of  the  members  to  go  into  the  chapel  and  pray 
for  her.  This  woman  was  what  they  call  only  a 
half  Bundoo,  and  if  she  should  die  without  being 
pulled  could  only  go  half  way  to  where  she  wants 
to  go.  In  the  next  world  she  could  see  her  people, 
but  could  not  go  to  or  talk  with  them. 

Yours  truly.  Joseph  Gomer. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOL   WORKERS   IN    AFRICA. 

Bro.  F.  : — As  one  of  the  first-fruits  of  our  chil- 
dren's weekly  prayer-meetings,  our  Sunday-school 
is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  gatherings 
we  have  on  the  Sabbath.  The  children  under  our 
instruction  for  the  past  two  years  are  rendering  us 
very  valuable  help.  They  are  to  be  seen  every 
Sunday  morning  or  afternoon  in  the  huts,  telling 
of  Jesus  to  the  children,  inviting  them  to  school, 
reproving  Sabbath-breaking,  and  pleading  witli 
parents  to  send  their  children  with  them  to  Sun- 


IN  WESTERN   AFRICA.  231 

day-scliool.  They  are  even  inviting  adults,  and 
have  been  successful  in  bringing  in  both  young 
and  old.  A  few  weeks  ago  some  of  them  got  into 
Kabby's  hut,  and  invited  him  and  Kong,  his  com- 
panion, to  come  to  Sunday-school.  After  finding 
they  would  take  no  denial,  to  get  rid  of  them  both 
men  promised  to  come  out.  The  children  offered 
to  wait  for  them.  After  waiting,  and  further  talk 
with  them,  Kabby  and  his  companion  accompanied 
them.  "While  preparing  to  leave  the  house  for  the 
school,  I  heard  a  noise  at  the  barra  gate.  In  look- 
ing out  I  saw  several  boys  very  good-humoredly 
holding  to  Kong  and  pulling  him.  On  inquiring 
as  to  the  cause,  I  was  informed  that  Kong  had 
promised  to  come  to  Sunday-school,  and  came 
thus  far  to  "fool"  them,  and  they  do  not  "  gree 
for  that ;"  so  I  settled  the  pleasing  palaver  by 
deciding  that  since  Kong  had  promised  them,  and 
came  this  far,  the  boys  had  got  the  best,  and  he 
should  go  in.  Both  Kabby  and  Kong  then  went 
in.  They  came  back  the  following  Sabbath,  and 
since  then  Kabby  has  attended  regularly,  while 
Kong  was  from  home.  Last  Sabbath  Kabby  said 
to  Mr.  Campbell,  the  teacher:  "I  like  to  come 
here ;  put  down  my  name ;  I  shall  attend  every 
Sunday."  He  comes  to  see  me  every  day.  He  is 
here  now,  helping  to  re-roof  the  barra.  I  have 
hope  in  him.     Yours  in  Christ. 

J.  M.  Williams. 


232  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

BOMPHETOOK,   MAMBO,   AND    SHENGAY. 

We  all  reached  the  mission,  December  23d,  in 
good  health.  The  following  week  we  held  a  meet- 
ing to  lay  plans.  On  the  6th,  Mrs.  Gomer  and 
myself  went  to  Bomphetook.  The  school  exam- 
ination was  good.  The  children  have  made  fine 
progress  in  grammar,  arithmetic,  and  writing. 
Mr.  Lefever,  who  was  one  of  the  examiners,  was 
80  well  pleased  that  he  laid  eight  silver  half  crowns 
— one  pound — on  the  table  for  the  benefit  of  the 
school.  Brother  Williams  and  Mr.  Campbell,  the 
teacher,  deserve  credit.  They  have  a  very  good 
school.  On  the  9th,  my  wife  and  I  went  to  Good 
Hope,  where  we  saw  Mr.  Eoot  and  Mr.  Menzies, 
and  talked  about  the  industrial  school.  I  am 
just  from  Mambo,  where  the  chief  showed  me 
one  of  their  places  of  worship.  The  skulls  of  the 
African  buffalo,  baboon,  deer,  bush-cow,  and 
bush-hogs,  and  other  bones,  were  all  in  a  heap. 
Persons  with  "bad  sickness"  come  to  this  place, 
offer  a  sacrifice,  and  then  they  will  get  well. 
Hunters  also  worship  here  that  they  may  have  suc- 
cess. 

Children  are  born  with  the  following  names: 
The  first  son  is  called  Cho ;  the  second,  Tong ;  the 
third,  Saw ;  the  fourth,  Barkey ;  the  fifth,  Eicah  ; 
the    sixth,    Kotong.     The    first   girl    is    named 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  233 

Bay;  tlie  second,  Yameki,  or  Yarkio ;  the  third, 
Conah ;  the  fourth,  My-hen ;  the  iifth,  Kebang, 
the  sixth,  Maniieh.  The  Purrow,  Bundoo,  or  Yas- 
sa  always  change  these  names,  and  we  often 
change  their  names.  A  head-man  sent  me  a  large 
bundle  of  witch-medicine  recently.  The  bell  for 
Boraphetook  is  up,  and  does  well.  There  are  twen- 
ty-three laborers  and  seven  children  who  attend 
morning  worship  and  take  part.  Miss  Bowman  is 
teaching  a  sewing-class  and  managing  the  missioa- 
children,  and  Miss  Beeken  is  at  Bomphetook. 
The  schools  at  both  Shengay  and  Bomphetook, 
and  the  work  generally,  are  doing  well.  We 
greatly  need  help.  Another  minister  should  be 
sent  out  immediately.  J.  Gomer. 

SHENGAY   MISSION-HOUSE,   WEST   AFRICA, 

We  have  seventeen  and  one  half  acres  of  ground 
cleared,  and  nearly  all  is  planted  in  cassada,  corn, 
cocoa,  yams,  arrow-root,  and  cotton.  The  stock  is 
all  looking  well.  Both  yoke  of  oxen  do  well, 
hauling  logs  in  clearing  the  farm.  We  have  one 
milch  cow,  seventeen  sheep  and  goats,  and  two 
hogs.  The  fishing-seine  is  a  good  investment. 
Tom  went  out  one  afternoon,  and  came  back  next 
morning  with  three  hundred  and  seventy-four 
pounds  of  nice  fish. 

May  18th  we  received  six  into   the    Church 


234  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

— four  males  aud  two  females.  There  are 
now  thirteen  on  the  seekers'  list.  The 
Sahbath-school  average  for  the  quarter  was 
seventy-nine;  day-school,  thirty  eight.  We  have 
now  in  the  mission  at  Shengay  ten  boys  and  two 
girls.  They  work  from  6:15  to  9:00  A.  M.,  and 
from  3:30  to  5:30  p.  m.  I  had  to  stop  work  on  the 
boys'  home  to  clear  ground  and  plant,  but  will  re- 
sume again  next  week.  At  present  they  occupy 
rooms  in  the  laborers'  houses,  which  are  finished. 

May  28th,  Rev.^Mr.  Hero  went  up  to  Mambo  to 
labor  as  a  school-teacher  and  a  preacher.  I  was  up 
there  on  the  16th  instant  and  visited  three  of  the 
villages  near  there.  On  account  of  the  Purrow 
being  in  session,  not  much  could  be  done  in  the 
way  of  teaching  and  preaching.  A  little  boy, 
a  son  of  the  chief,  told  me  that  the  devil  came 
into  the  meeting  one  Sabbath. 

"We  have  made  out  a  plan  for  itinerating  in  the 
villages  near  Shengay — the  farthest  not  more  than 
twelve  miles  away.  The  plan  includes  ten  villages 
outside  of  Shengay.  Five  of  our  young  men, 
members  of  the  Church,  have  volunteered  to  go 
out,  each  taking  their  regular  turns.  When  I 
have  more  time  I  will  send  you  the  plan. 

At  Mambo  the  woman's  work  is  prospering, 
though  the  school  is  small  and  the  teacher  has 
no  proper  house  to   live    in.      The    people  are 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  235 

real  buugiy  for  the  gospel.  Kine  have  joined  the 
seekers'  class,  and  the  meetings  are  very  encour- 
aging. Mr.  Allen  was  there  last  Sabbath,  and  re- 
ports a  very  interesting  meeting.  I  think  we  have 
nothing  to  fear  but  much  to  hope  for  in  the  future. 
Though  discouragements  arise,  they  shall  vanish 
away.  Joseph  Gomer. 

May,  31.  1877. 

MAMBO,    WEST    AFRICA. 

This  is  a  native  town  about  ten  miles  from 
Shengay.  The  chief,  Mr.  Caulker,  and  Mr.  Hero, 
our  missionary  at  this  place,  came  to  meet  us  at 
the  wharf.     Mrs.  Hero  was  with  me. 

We  do  most  of  our  traveling  in  boats ;  and  it  is 
quite  a  pleasant  way,  especially  when  the  wind 
and  tide  are  in  our  favor. 

It  is  customary  to  give  a  present  to  the  chief  or 
head-man  on  entering  a  place — "to  shake  his 
hand."  Meantime  the  "  strangers  "  go  to  the  "  bar- 
ra,"  and  wait  till  he  comes.  He  sends  his  people 
to  empty  a  house,  which  is  given  to  them  to  use 
as  long  as  they  stay  in  the  place.  On  leaving  the 
tow  n  a  "  good-by "  present  is  given  to  the 
"stranger;"  which  consists  usually  of  rice,  fowls, 
and  occasionally  a  sheep,  goat,  or  bullock,  where 
they  have  these.  I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
give  a  present  on  coming  here;  but  the  head-man 
told  the  chief  that  the  white  woman  had  come, 


23G  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

but  she  had  not  given  them  anything  to  shake 
their  hand.  I  got  the  present  at  the  "  eleventh 
hour,"  and  gave  it  to  him. 

The  "  Purrow  "  is  in  full  operation  at  present. 
On  Tuesday  the  boys  were  brought  out  of  the 
"bush  "  where  they  had  been  kept  for  nine  months. 
There  were  one  hundred  and  fifteen  in  all  who 
were  initiated.  These  boys  are  not  allowed  to  see 
their  friends  during  the  time  they  are  in  the 
"bush ; "  and  it  is  a  fearful  thing  for  any  one  who 
is  not  a  Purrow-man  to  enter  it  at  all. 

Two  of  our  boys  want  me  to  say  "  good-how- 
do  "  for  them,  to  the  boys  and  girls  away  over  the 
sea.  One  asked  me  why  no  white  children  ever 
come  here  from  America. 

A.  Lizzie  Bowman 

June  1,  18T7. 


IN   WESTERN  AFKICA.  237 


CHAPTER  XLVIIL 

WHAT  AVE  CAN  AND  OUGHT  TO  HAVE,  SOON,  IN  AFRICA. 

In  this  chapter  we  propose  to  sketch  in  a  brief 
manner  the  work  we  ought  next  to  accomplish  in 
Africa.  The  implements,  and  all  that  was  thought 
to  be  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  putting  the  in- 
dustrial school  into  successful  operation,  were 
sent  to  Africa  early  this  year.  The  preparatory 
work — such  as  clearing  the  ground,  building 
houses  for  shops  and  lodging-rooms,  obtaining 
seeds  and  plants,  and  making  arrangements  to 
furnish  suitable  labor  for  girls,  as  well  as  for  boys, 
— has  already  been  largely  done.  This  has  given 
our  missionaries  much  additional  care ;  and  but 
for  the  fact  that  there  exists  a  real  necessity  for 
such  an  enterprise,  it  ought  never  have  been  un- 
dertaken. But  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  fur- 
nish employment  for  our  advanced  pupils  in  the 
schools,  and  for  converts  who  wish  to  make  a  re- 
spectable living  in  some  legitimate  business.  If 
they  must  pursue  some  heathen  occupation,  and 
do  this  as  they  do  it,  and  among  them,   a  largo 


238  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

per  cent  of  them  will  go  back  to  heathenism. 
Besides,  to  show  the  people  that  there  is  a  better 
way  will  be  a  great  inducement  to  them  to  for- 
sake their  heathenism.  The  introduction  of  agri- 
cultural and  mechanical  pursuits,  such  as  will 
develop  the  resources  of  the  country  and  the 
skill  and  industry  of  the  people,  and  in- 
crease their  wealth,  will  tend  much  to  give  them 
nobler  views  of  life,  and  in  every  way  quali- 
fy them  to  both  produce  and  consume  profitably 
more  than  they  now  do,  or  even  know  of.  They 
have  numerous  real  w\ants,  physical,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  religious,  which  they  will  be  made  to 
realize  only  as  civilization  and  Christianity  cause 
them  to  see  them.  These  will  develop  the  re- 
sources of  soil  and  brain  found  in  that  country, 
and  contribute  largely  to  the  growth  of  commerce, 
science,  and  literature.  The  world  is  beginning 
to  recognize  this  fact,  and  appreciates  the  worth 
of  Christian  missions,  because  they  have  contrib- 
uted so  largely  to  these.  It  would  know  but  little 
of  the  geography,  languages,  and  real  condi- 
tion of  the  people  of  most  heathen  lands  but 
for  the  knowledge  which  it  has  obtained  througli 
missionaries. 

The  primary  object  of  Christian  missions  to  tlio 
heathen  is  to  teach  them  their  duty  to  God,  and  as 
far  as  possible  induce  them  to  discharge  it;  but  other 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  239 

important  ends  should  be  and  mostly  are  accom- 
plished, such  as  have  been  alluded  to  in  this  chap- 
ter. It  should  be  our  aim  to  make  thorough  work 
in  Africa,  and  not  allow  it  to  be  but  partially  or 
imperfectly  done.  To  do  this  will  require  time, 
effort,  money — especially  the  latter;  and  if  this  be 
forthcoming  as  the  demands  of  the  work  require, 
the  amount  of  eftbrt  and  time  necessary  to  bring 
about  the  end  desired  will  be  much  less  than  if 
the  work  has  to  be  carried  forward  under  constant 
financial  embarrassment,  as  has  been  the  case  often 
in  the  past. 

"With  the  rich  country  we  have  there, — rich  in 
material  resources,  and  richer  still  in  its  mental 
and  moral  possibilities, — we  ought  more  rapidly 
to  subdue  that  land  to  Christ.  To  plead  inability 
is  to  excuse  ourselves  upon  false  grounds.  Did  all 
act  their  part  as  well  as  some  do  in  contributing 
funds,  at  least  threefold  more  would  be  secured. 
To  withhold  or  to  give  parsimoniously  while 
millions  are  wholly  destitute  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  the  command  to  preach  it  to  every  creat- 
ure stands  unrepealed,  is  certainly  a  sin  against 
God. 

The  discouragements  growing  out  of  our  not 
having  money  to  man  the  African  mission  pro[)cr- 
ly  have  been  the  greatest  we  have  had  to  contend 
with  in  its  entire  history.      True,  there  have  been 


240  MISSIONARY  LIFE  IN  WESTERN  AFRICA. 

serious  obstacles  in  the  way,  and  at  times  it  looked 
as  though  they  were  such  as  would  crush  it. 
More  than  once,  when  without  any  protection, 
Avar  parties  came  near  it,  who  could  have  destroyed 
its  buildings,  as  no  one  was  there  to  resist  them 
Truly  a  wonderful  providence  has  watched  over 
that  mission  from  its  origin.  The  change  that 
came  over  Chief  Caulker,  who  was  induced  to  give 
us  so  favorable  a  location,  after  refusing  it  for 
nearly  two  years,  and  which  caused  him  at  his  ad- 
vanced age,  and  after  having  been  so  much  op- 
posed to  the  mission  and  Christianity,  to  become 
a  Christian  himself,  and  its  warmest  friend,  is 
indeed  remarkable. 

The  leadings  of  Providence  certainly  indicate 
that  there  should  be  great  energy  shown  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  work  in  Africa. 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  241 

APPENDIX. 
CHAPTER  XLIX. 

[The  autlior  has  visited  Alriea  twice  since  1877,  and  most  of  what  follows 
was  written  by  the  missionaries  and  himself  while  there.  The  account 
given  of  the  progress  of  the  work,  including  the  woman's  mission,  with  the 
author's  report  to  the  Board  in  May,  ISX'Z,  show  what  has  been  and  what 
still  needs  lo  he  done  in  that  dark  land.] 

WHAT    THE    CHIEF    SAID. 

Sourie  Cassabe  the  chief  at  Rotnfuiik  told  me 
several  times  that  if  I  would  come  and  sit  down 
close  to  him  he  would  "hold  all  the  word  what  I 
tell  him,  because  he  see  it  good."  When  Brother 
Wolfe  and  myself  were  iirst  there  he  asked  how 
he  must  do  to  be  saved.  He  says  if  I  were  there 
I  conld  shoAvliim"all  how  to  mind  them  people." 
And  many  others  say  they  would  be  glad  to  have 
the  word,  if  they  could  get  any  person  to  show 
them.  It  does  me  good  to  show  them.  Mr. 
Green  is  hauling  stone  with  tlie  oxen  on  a  sled 
which  Mr.  Wolfe  had  made.  The  stones  are  to 
protect  the  bank  where  the  wall  is  broken  again. 
Yesterday  some  natives  from  one  of  the  rivers, 
after  watching  the  cattle  for  some  time,  said, 
"Dem  cow  him  work.  Oh,  I  hear  say  dem  kin 
dig  ground.     I  want  to  see  um."     I  told  thein  it 

16 


242  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

was  not  the  time  now  to  dig  ground.  The  leop- 
ards got  among  our  goats  and  killed  several ;  also 
one  pig.  A  calf  was  attacked  just  in  front  of  the 
mission-house  one  night.  It  made  so  much  noise 
that  it  awoke  us  all.  So  with  a  lantern  in  one 
hand  and  a  revolver  in  the  other  I  started  to  the 
rescue;  but  fearing  the  leopard  might  prove 
more  than  a  match  for  me,  I  tired  at  it  before  I 
reached  it.  This  frightened  it  off;  but  the  calf 
was  so  badly  bitten  that  we  had  to  kill  it.  The 
cow  got  sick,  and  we  had  to  kill  hei.  The  goats, 
pig,  and  calf  were  all  killed  inside  of  two  weeks, 

and  the  sow  and  two  pigs  died. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

August  6,  1877. 

AFRICAN    INCIDENT. 

The  lesson  was  Acts  xiv.  8-20.  "  I  asked  my 
class  why  Paul  and  Barnabas  did  not  accept  of 
the  honors  the  people  wished  to  bestow  upon 
them  ;  could  they  think  of  any  one  mentioned  in 
the  Bible  who  accepted  of  praise  or  honor  ?  One 
remembered  a  king  who  wore  his  fine  clothes  and 
made  a  speech  to  the  people,  and  they  said  he  was 
a  god.  Ilumphi  said  he  remembered  one  fine 
gentleman  who  got  one  bad  sick  that  he  not  liable 
to  cure,  and  been  one  little  gal  there  with  his  wife, 
what  come  out  far  country.  She  tell  his  wife  dey 
one  man  in  her  country  what  liable  for  doctor 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  243 

um.  So  he  take  pleuty  of  money  and  he  come  to 
the  man.  The  man  tell  um,  say,  Go  wash  your- 
self; and  he  vex  for  tliat.  And  his  servant  tell 
him,  say,  Wliat  matter  you  no  want  to  wash  ?  So 
he  wash,  and  he  get  better  just  now." 

The  head-man  of  Tissanna  sent,  last  week,  to 
tell  me  that  if  they  die  and  God  asks  them  why 
they  do  not  keep  meeting  there  on  Sundays  they 
will  tell  him  that  we  Shengay  people  were  to 
blame  for  that.  At  Sandoo,  Senehoo,  Bonthe,  and 
Mambo  they  sent,  saying  that  we  must  come  to 
them  all  the  time.  Joseph  Gomer. 

September,  1S77. 

TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    IN    AFRICA. 

I  have  been  much  interested  in  the  new  indus- 
trial work  that  is  being  begun  by  Mr.  Gomer  at 
Shengay.  That  has  been  my  idea  of  missionary 
work  in  Africa  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Though 
laboring  under  great  discouragements,  I  have  been 
permitted  to  experience  gratifying  results.  Of 
the  twenty-four  children — twelve  boys  and  twelve 
girls — taken  into  the  industrial  school  at  Good 
Hope  twenty-two  years  ago,  four  have  died,  leav- 
ing the  best  of  evidence  that  they  were  converted 
and  have  gone  to  heaven.  One  of  them  gradu- 
ated with  honors  at  an  American  college  and 
returned  to  his  people  as  a  Christian  minister, 


244  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

and  till  the  day  of  liis  death  maintained  the  char- 
acter of  an  educated  Christian  gentleman.  One 
young  man  from  that  family  was  emplo3'ed  by 
Mr.  Gomer  as  teacher  at  Shengay,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  was  often  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Gomer 
as  a  valuable  assistant.  Another  young  man  from 
that  family  has  been  for  many  years,  and  is  still, 
a  faithful  and  efficient  teacher  in  the  Mendi  mis- 
sion-schools. All  the  boys  of  the  family  were 
taught  the  use  of  tools,  and  several  of  them  be- 
came very  skillful  mechanics.  With  their  help 
alone,  and  the  heathen  laborers,  I  was  enabled  to 
build  a  saw-mill, — a  picture  of  which  you  once 
gave  in  the  Missionary  Visitor.  From  that  time, 
to  the  present  the  mill  has  held  a  prominent  place 
in  the  industrial  department  of  the  mission.  Five 
of  the  girls  of  that  family  were  respectably  mar- 
ried, and  settled  near  the  mission.  Three  girls 
were  sent  home  to  their  friends  because  of  immor- 
al conduct.  One  boy  was  sent  to  his  father  for 
inefficiency.  All  the  girls  of  the  family  were 
taught  all  branches  connected  with  housekeeping, 
and  in  needle-work  they  excelled,  both  in  i)laiu 
and  fancy  sewing;  and  from  the  time  that  they 
became  large  enough  to  do  the  work,  no  other 
help  was  employed  in  the  house.  I  would  say  to 
your  people,  Keep  on,  and  sustain  Mr.  Gomer  in 
his  industrial  work.     God  will  bless  it,  and  eter- 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  245 

iiity  will  show  that  it  is  hibor  well  spent.     Yours 
for  tlie  blessed  cause. 

I).  W.  Burton. 

Plymouth,  Illinois,  Septembers,  1877. 

BISHOP    HAVEN    AND    LIBERIA. 

Bishop  Haven,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churcli,  who  visited  Liberia  November  1877,  says 
of  that  people,  who  are  only  two  hundred  miles 
south  of  Shengay : 

"There  are  about  twenty  thousand  colored 
Americans.  The  native  population  is  about  four 
hundred  thousand.  The  American  population  is 
found  chiefly  in  about  six  towns  on  the  coast. 
The  natives  are  heathens,  of  course.  They  bave 
no  forms  of  civilization.  They  go  in  a  nude  state. 
There  is  no  relation  between  the  natives  and  the 
colored  Americans.  They  are  just  as  industrious 
as  any  class  of  people  who  live  in  the  tropical 
countries.  The  frosts  of  the  North  give  north- 
erners a  start  ahead  of  southerners.  The  Liberi- 
ans  I  met  are  quite  industrious,  and  in  business 
transactions  are  quite  shrewd.  Some  of  the  larg- 
est merchants  are  colored  men.  They  own  farms 
up  the  St.  Johns  and  St.  Paul's  rivers.  Hundreds 
of  acres  of  land  have  been  cleared  and  cultivated. 
Liberia,  like  all  other  countries  that  are  poor, 
needs  money.     There  is  a  clause  in  the  constitu- 


246  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

tion  prohibiting  white  men  from  owning  any  land. 
They  were  afraid  that  the  white  man  would  run 
them  out.  They  want  his  money,  but  do  not 
want  him.  I  think  that  he  will  eventually  be 
allowed  to  buy  land  there.  They  want  and  must 
have  industries  and  railroads  there;  therefore  some 
person  must  furnish  the  capital.  Africa  is  a  beau- 
tiful and  wealthy  country.  I  think  the  African 
mind  is  susceptible  of  the  highest  forms  of  educa- 
tion. Of  course,  all  people-  in  warm  countries 
sufl'er  from  the  heat,  but  they  are  not  necessarily 
incapable  of  an  advanced  degree  of  culture.  Africa 
will  be  civilized  by  religion,  commerce,  and  poli- 
tics. The  means  of  communication  with  the 
outside  world  are  increasing  all  the  time.  It  only 
takes  fifteen  days  from  Monrovia  to  England." 

AN    IMAGE MOHAMMEDAN. 

"We  are  all  in  very  good  health  this  morning. 
Miss  Beeken,  Mr.  Campbell,  and  myself  left  here 
on  the  2d  for  Rotufunk.  I  spent  the  night  with 
Richard  Caulker,  at  Tangahnahma  (that  is,  sweet 
cassava).  Miss  Beeken  went  on  and  slept  at  Ca- 
nolo  (that  means,  under  a  sassy-tree).  Xext  day 
at  8:00  p.  m.  we  were  at  Rotufunk.  At  night  we 
had  a  very  interesting  meeting.  The  Mohamme- 
dans were  having  a  big  meeting  also.  It  is  a  fast- 
month  with  them.     They  must  fast  until  they  see 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  247 

the  new  moon,  which  will  be  about  the  8th  or 
9th.  The  king  of  the  Quiah  country,  Fouray- 
Dugoo,  and  Mahara,  was  here.  He  is  a  great  man 
in  the  country.  lie  was  sent  here  by  the  gover- 
nor of  Sierra  Leone  to  settle  some  war-palaver. 
He  is  a  Mohammedan  and  a  good  Arabic  scholar. 
His  son,  a  line  young  man,  is  not  a  Mohammedan, 
and  received  an  English  education  in  Freetown. 
He  invited  the  people  to  the  meeting,  and  inter- 
preted for  us.  Mr.  Campbell  spoke  well  from  I. 
Tim.  ii.  5.  I  followed,  speaking  on  the  birth  of 
Christ.  Next  morning  King  Allemammy  sent  to 
know  if  we  would  liold  a  meeting  at  his  place. 
So  when  he  had  sent  the  Mohammedans  away, 
except  a  few,  and  four  of  his  wives,  together  with 
a  few  of  the  towns-people,  we  all  went  over  and 
explained  to  them  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ — after  which  they  sent  us  letters,  which  I 
forward  to  you.  Eight  of  the  king's  wives  were 
there  in  the  town,  but  only  four  attended  the 
meeting. 

Early  the  next  morning  after  we  reached  Rotu- 
funk,  I  was  standing  in  front  of  the  house.  A 
girl  passed,  going  toward  the  river,  with  an  image 
ornamented  with  beads  in  her  hand.  I  asked  her 
to  show  it  to  me,  and  offered  to  buy  it.  She  said 
it  was  a  woman's  child,  and  she  was  going  to 
wash  it.     She  refused  to  sell  it.     I  spoke  to  the 


248  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

king,  asking  liim  to  get  it  for  me.  He  sent  for 
the  woman,  who  said  that  she  gave  Lirth  to  twins, 
and  one  died.  She  had  this  image  made,  and 
believed  that  the  spirit  of  the  dead  child  now 
dwelt  in  it  and  minded  the  family.  She  could  not 
part  with  it.  I  had  taken  my  revolver  with  me 
— the  one  presented  to  me  in  I^ew  York.  I 
showed  it  to  the  king,  and  told  him  if  he  would 
get  the  image  for  me  I  would  give  him  the  re- 
volver, and  an  Arabic  Bible  for  his  friend,  who 
wanted  one.  He  saw  the  husband,  and  they  be- 
gan making  country  fashion  and  otferiug  sacritices, 
I  suppose  to  get  the  spirit  out  of  the  image.  By 
two  o'clock  next  day  Foora  Boandoo,  the  king's 
son,  brought  it  to  me.  He  had  worked  hard  to 
get  it  for  me,  and  I  promised  to  send  liim  an 
English  Bible.  This  was  his  greatest  wish.  I 
send  the  image  to  you  just  as  I  saw  it  in  the  girl's 
hands.  Joseph  Gomer. 

October  2,  1877. 

ROTUFUNK,  WEST    AFRICA. 

I  came  here  yesterday  and  found  the  buildings 
about  the  same  as  Mr.  Gomer  represented  them 
as  being  when  he  left  hero  seven  weeks  ago.  Mr. 
Gomer  left  one  of  his  carpenters  here  then,  to 
make  the  window-cases  and  shutters.  The  latter 
only  are  made.  You  see  how  slowly  work  will 
go  when  left  to  native  discretion. 


AFRICAN    IMAGE. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  249 

The  chief  went  to  work  hist  Saturday  morning 
with  a  strong  force,  putting  the  roof  on  and 
daubing  the  house.  lie  works  the  same  as  any 
of  his  people — in  the  mud  to  his  knees.  I  was  at 
the  house  this  forenoon,  and  saw  him  at  work. 
So  I  gave  him  "  Tankie,  tankie."  He  said  he 
would  not  daub  a  house  for  himself,  but  this 
house  was  for  God  and  he  would  work  for  him. 
I  was  up  to  the  house  just  before  night,  and 
found  the  roof  all  on  and  the  lirst  coat  of  mud. 
I  fear  the  carpenter-work  will  keep  us  back  most. 
I  shall  try  and  get  them  at  work  building  the 
Ibarra  in  a  day  oc  two.  I  do  not  intend  leaving 
here  until  the  buildings  are  ready  to  use,  if  my 
health  does  not  fail.  I  use  my  hammock  for  my 
bed,  as  otherwise  I  would  have  to  use  the  ground- 
floor. 

I  had  a  very  large  and  attentive  congregation 
liere.  Two  chiefs  attended  it,  and  quite  a  num- 
ber of  Mohammedans,  who  gave  their  sanction 
to  much  that  I  said.  A  son  of  one  of  the  chiefs, 
'W'^ho  was  educated  in  Freetown,  interpreted  for 
me. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  to  quite  a  large  town 
«ome  distance  up  the  river.  Here  I  met  a  num- 
ber of  people;  but  the  chief  would  not  allow  me 
to  speak  until  he  had  given  me  a  present  of  some 
rice  and  a  fowl.     Then  he  said  I  could  speak.     I 


250  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

told  him  my  errand,   and   he  called  the  people 

together.    There  were  upward  of  a  hundred,  who 

listened  very  attentively.     When  I  left,  the  chief 

urged  me  to  come  again. 

Joseph  Wolfe. 

November  25,  1877. 

EXTRACTS    FROM    A   LETTER    TO    A    SABBATH-SCHOOL. 

I  have  not  time  to  tell  you  all  I  know ;  but  the 
Purrow-devil — I  must  tell  you  all  ahout  that. 
They  have  a  devil-bush  at  a  town  a  few  miles- 
from  here.  They  dress  up  men  to  represent 
devils,  and  send  them  out  to  catch  men  and  boys. 
They  will  not  have  women.  The  children  at 
Shengay  all  look  anxiously  forward  to  Christmaa 
as  a  great  gala-day ;  and  all  like  to  dress  up  on 
that  day.  For  several  weeks  the  boys  have  been 
begging  for  work  to  do,  that  they  may  buy  clothes 
to  wear.  Some  want  shirts,  some  jumpers,  some 
hats.  Four  or  five  shillings  will  buy  a  suit  such 
as  they  want.  I  gave  a  job  to  two  of  our  Sab- 
bath-school boys,  that  they  might  get  jumpers  to 
wear  Christmas.  Just  as  they  had  finished  the 
work  one  of  the  devils  came  and  caught  them 
and  several  other  of  our  Sabbath-school  children^ 
and  carried  them  to  this  bush,  where  they  must 
stay  perhaps  for  several  mquths.  The  king  was 
at  Bendoo.  I  went  to  see  him  and  protested 
against  such  unlawful  proceedings.     lie  said  he 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  251 

had  no  power  over  the  Purrow.  I  told  him  that 
then  we  must  appeal  to  a  King  who  did  have 
power  over  it.  This  we  are  doing  every  day. 
We  are  praying  to  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth, 
to  put  a  stop  to  these  heathen  practices.  "Will 
you  not  unite  your  prayers  with  ours  that  God 
may  put  an  end  to  the  Purrow-devil.  This  is  the 
first  we  have  had  so  close  here  for  five  years,  and 
the  people  do  not  wish  it.  It  is  only  a  few  wick- 
ed men,  who  hate  the  mission  and  everything 
that  is  good,  that  have  brought  it  here. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

December  17,  1877. 

HELP    NEEDED. 

It  is  time  for  my  quarterly  report ;  hut  I  beg 
you  will  excuse  me  this  quarter,  and  I  hope  Mr. 
Wilberforce  will  be  here  by  the  time  the  next  is 
due.  I  am  just  as  busy  as  I  can  be  from  early  in 
the  morning  until  late  at  night.  We  are  clearing 
and  plowing  for  our  full  crops.  We  are  now 
plowing  with  two  yoke  of  oxen.  I  am  head 
plowman.  It  takes  three  of  us, — one  to  hold  the 
plow  and  two  to  drive, — as  the  cattle  are  not  well 
broken.  In  the  schools  and  religious  department 
all  is  going  as  well  as  could  be  expected.  At 
Shengay  our  day-meetings  are  thinly  attended. 
The  day-school  has  an  attendance  of  from  thirty- 
five  to  fifty.    Birds  must  be  driven  from  rice.  We 


252  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

might  have  a  good  night-school  but  for  the  ex- 
pense. Of  the  nine  that  we  received  into  the 
church  lateh',  six  were  mission -bo3's  between 
twelve  and  sixteen  years  of  age.  There  is,  I  am 
happy  to  sa}',  quite  a  religious  interest  among  the 
boys  in  the  mission.  Every  Saturday  night  the 
boys  have  their  own  pra3'er- meeting  in  their 
house.  I  have  never  attended  their  meeting.  It 
is  purel}'  their  own.  It  has  been  going  on  for 
several  months.  At  Boniphetook  the  work  is  at 
a  stand-still.  At  Manoh  it  is  very  encouraging. 
Two  weeks  ago  I  spent  a  Sabbath  there  and  at 
Thumbah.  Mrs.  Curtis  has  a  large  and  interesting 
class  of  seekers,  who  meet  every  Sabbath  morn- 
ing and  once  a  week  for  prayers.  Our  meetings 
there  were  well  attended;  twenty-seven  attended 
the  Sabbath-school ;  the  daily  attendance  at  day- 
school  is  from  twelve  to  sixteen.  She  has  a 
night-school  for  adults  tluit  is  well  attended,  only 
they  do  not  come  regularly.  The  people  are  very 
kind  to  Mrs.  Curtis,  and  help  her  much  with 
food.  At  Mambo  we  have  much  to  be  thankful 
for.  Both  church  and  school  are  doing  well.  My 
health  is  very  good.  Mr.  Saw^'er  is  performing 
well  his  part  of  teacher  and  preacher.  My  great- 
est need  now  is  for  some  one  who  can  manage  a 
farm  and  who  understands  cattle.  I  am  so  tired 
when  night  comes;    but  relief  will   come.      The 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.      '  253 

school-children  have  several  bushels  of  kernels  to 
pay  for  their  Visitors  again. 

The  spiritual  work  of  the  mission  has  never  yet 
had  a  better  prospect  than  it  now  has.  Early  at 
the  commencement  of  the  dry  season  there  were 
several  Purrow-bnshes  established  throughout  the 
different  villages  by  a  few  wicked  men  who  hate 
the  gospel,  for  the  one  purpose  of  retarding  its 
progress;  and  they  succeeded,  in  a  measure,  in 
lessejiing  the  attendance  at  the  meetings.  Many 
of  the  school-children  were  caught  and  forced 
into  the  Purrow-bush ;  and  in  some  cases  some  of 
the  members  had  been  taken  by  force  and  put 
there,  even  from  their  houses.  Sucli  extreme 
measures  have  done  harm  to  their  own  cause. 
A¥e  frequently  hear  some  of  their  own  people 
say,  "  This  tiling  pass  mark; "  and  many  of  them 
speak  openly  against  it,  saying,  "I  never  wish  to 
see  Purrow  here  again."  A  few  years  ago  it  was 
their  glory  to  belong  to  the  Purrow ;  ])ut  of  late 
years,  and  even  now,  many  are  ashamed  to  be 
associated  with  it. 

All  through  the  country  the  people  are  willing 
to  come  and  keep  meeting  oil  Sunday.  Truly, 
the  people  are  hungry  for  the  gosi>el  ;  but  we 
have  not  force  enough  to  send  it  to  them.  We 
are  doing  all  that  we  can  to  give  it  to  as  many  as 
possible. 


254  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

I  feel  that  we  must  open  two  more  schools  in 
connection  with  our  work  here, — one  at  Manoh 
and  one  at  Thumbah.  At  both  of  these  places  they 
have  given  us  good  houses.  For  the  present  they 
will  not  cost  over  one  hundred  dollars  a  year  for 
each  school.  I  know  that  you  are  hard  pushed 
for  means ;  but  if  I  can  have  my  health  to  go 
about  after  Mr.  Wilberforce  comes  I  can  raise  the 
money  here.  If  none  of  the  Sabbath-schools  in 
America  will  support  these  schools,  we  will  vol- 
unteer to  do  so.  By  the  time  the  Board  meets 
these  schools  will  be  in  operation,  God  willing. 

I  am  just  on  the  eve  of  starting  to  Freetown 
now  for  the  doctor,  but  hope  to  be  back  in  a 
week  or  ten  days.  My  sickness  began  with  ery- 
sipelas and  terminated  in  yellow  jaundice.  For 
ten  days  I  have  been  helpless.  My  wife  has  done 
her  best  in  the  way  of  doctoring,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose. All  medicines  seem  to  have  lost  their 
power. 

I  forgot  to  state  in  the  proper  place  that  we 
have  dropped  six  members  from  our  church-rolls 
for  participating  in  the  Purrow,  and  six  were  dis- 
missed for  other  causes.  "We  now  have  fifty-eight 
members  at  Shengay.  There  are  eight  members 
in  the  church  at  Bomphetook.  The  field  looks 
very  inviting,  if  we  can  only  get  the  help.  I 
trust  we  shall  yet  gather  many  precious  sheaves. 


IN    WESTERN   AFRICA.  255 

I  am  longing  for  Mr.  Y/ilberforce  to  come  and 
help  me.  Joseph  Gomer. 

April,  1878. 

FIFTY   YEARS    AGO. 

After  crossing  Yahrah.  Bay,  the  first  point  and 
the  most  westerly  of  the  mainland  of  the  Sher- 
bro  country  is  Shengay,  where  the  Sherbro  Mis- 
sion is  located.  About  two  miles  west  of  the 
mainland  are  the  famous  Plantain  Ishmds, — fa- 
mous for  having  once  been  the  fortified  residence 
of  the  late  King  Caulker.  Fifty  years  ago  the 
foreign  as  well  as  the  domestic  slave-trade  was  in 
full  operation  on  this-  part  of  the  coast.  King 
Oaulker  was  largely  engaged  in  this  business. 
Out  of  the  money  he  obtained  from  the  sale  of 
Ms  people  he  built  a  handsome  and  substantial 
stone  structure  on  the  largest  of  these  islands,  as 
well  as  a  fort  of  no  mean  pretensions,  upon  which 
were  mounted  cannon.  Here  the  unfortunate 
wretches  who  were  taken  in  war  and  in  other 
ways  were  confined  until  a  suflicient  nundjer  had 
been  collected  to  constitute  a  cargo  for  the  slave- 
trader.  But  King  Caulker  is  dead  and  gone,  and 
his  works  do  follow  him.  The  island  was  louff 
since  deserted.  Time,  wind,  and  tide  have  demol- 
ished houses  and  fort.  The  writer  himself  had 
some  of  the  stones  removed  from  the  king's  pal- 


256  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ace  and  had  them  pUiced  in  the  walls  of  the  mis- 
siou-house  at  Shengay.  The  steps  on  which  the- 
people  ascend  to  the  residence  of  onr  missionaries 
at  Shengay  were  hnilt  from  stones  removed  from 
these  ruins.  J.  K.  Billheimer. 

INDUSTRIAL    FARM  —  MRS.    GOMER's    CLASS. 

This  industrial  farm  is  a  pretty  hig  undertakings 
— larger  than  I  had  expected, — and  it  requires 
very  close  watching  of  both  the  men  and  the 
boys;  hut  I  believe  we  shall  make  it  pay  tliis- 
year.  I  iind  we  must  have  fences — and  only  live 
fences  will  dp  liere.  I  am  planting  Bahama-grass^ 
to  pasture  the  cattle,  as  none  of  the  other  seed 
grew.  Our  blacksmith  has  made  a  cart  that  we 
work  the  oxen  to.  We  use  it  to  do  our  hauling,, 
and  it  saves  much  labor.  The  smith  proves  to  be 
a  very  prohtable  num.  Besides  doing  all  our  work 
he  does  a  great  deal  for  outside  parties,  from 
which  we  get  a  profit.  Beople  come  from  far 
away  to  get  work  done.  Our  mission  is  becoming- 
very  popular  in  the  country.  I  do  very  much  wish 
that  you  could  come  out  with  Mr.  Will^erforce.. 
I  would  be  willing  to  contribute  a  good  part  of 
the  expenses  out  of  my  own  salary.  If  you  can 
not  come  yourself,  let  some  other  person  come 
who  understands  farming,  and  who  would  visit 
all  the  stations.     And  it  .would  be  nice  if  while- 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  257 

here  you  would  organize  the  Church  at  Marabo. 
There  will  be  material  there.  On  my  return  from 
Rotufunk,  I  sto}»pe(l  at  Bomphetown.  The  cliief 
is  still  calling  for  a  school  at  his  town.  I  think 
there  should  be  one  somewhere  in  that  vicinity. 
The  rain  came  ver^^  early  this  year,  before  the 
people  got  tlioir  farms  burned. 

The  box  of  clothing  and  books  sent  from  Lew- 
isburg  was  received  in  gciod  order.  We  were 
truly  thankful,  especially  for  the  clothes,  as  they 
were  all  made  up  ready  tor  the  children.  Mrs. 
Gomer  has  had  her  hands  full  since  Miss  Bowman 
left.  Slie,  with  what  little  help  one  of  the  girls 
could  give,  has  done  all  of  the  sewing  for  all  these 
children.  Besides,  ahe  has  organized  a  class  of 
seven  little  girls,  Avliich  is  called  the  Lewisburg 
Class.  All  are  dressed  from  the  box  above  re- 
ferred to.  Every  Sabbath  she  teaches  them  in 
the  Sabbath-school.  Jlave  are  their  names:  Han- 
nah Curtis,  Dorcas  John,  Moro,  Choco  Myany, 
Mima,  Bay,  and  Mayhen.  You  will  see  that  all 
luive  not  got  English  names  yet.  Every  Sabbath 
plenty  of  children  Hock  to  her  class,  but  she  sends 
them  all  away  but  her  seven.  Dorcas  John  and 
Hannah  Curtis  live  in  the  mission.  Every  morn- 
ing and  evening  Dorcas  prays  for  her  mother  and 
her  mother's  brother,  for  Brother  John  Try,  who 
lives  at  Manoh,  for   tlie  people  who  are  taking 

17 


258  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

care  of  her,  for  her  teacher,  and  for  all  the  good 
people  ill  America  who  send  them  hooks  and 
clothing.  She  is  ahout  six  years  old.  Words  can 
not  express  our  thanks  for  the  clothing  sent. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  June  7,  1878. 

WHAT    OUR    AGENT    SAID. 

Rev.  W.  Wicklethwiiite,  who  with  his  wife 
visited  Shenga}'  some  time  last  month  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  anniversary,  had  given  such  glowing 
accounts  of  the  progress  of  the  work  there  that 
others  besides  myself  to  whom  he  described  things 
he  saw  there  could  not  but  be  highly  and  agree- 
ably interested.  I  hope  it  will  so  continue,  and 
be  furthered  on,  and  that  Mr.  Wilberforce,  who  is 
reported  as  coming  out,  will  soon  be  here,  to  ena- 
ble Mr.  Gomer  to  extend  his  work,  as  he  seems 
determined  to  do ;  for  in  its  worldly  as  well  as  its 
spiritual  aspect  the  mission  is  silently  taking  hold 
upon  the  people  and  changing  their  habits  for 
good.  It  can  not  stop  there ;  and  your  mission 
appears  to  me  to  be  destined  to  accomplish  still 
greater  results  in  this  part  of  Africa. 

I.    FiTZJOHN. 

Sierra  Leone,  West  Africa,  July  10,  1878. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  259 

SHENGAY    SNAKE,    RAT,    AND    CAT    STORY. 

[Written  to  Sunday-school  children.] 

Childreu  usually  like  stories;  so  I  will  give  you 
a  snake  and  cat  story,  with  a  few  rats  mixed  in. 
The  rats  were  very  bad  in  our  rice-store,  so  I  sent 
for  a  dozen  cats  to  catch  them.  Tom  brought 
home  three  the  first  day  and  put  them  in  the 
store.  One  refused  to  stay  there,  and  came  over 
to  the  mission-house.  The  next  morning  one  of 
the  laborers,  while  sweeping  the  store,  looked 
under  the  rice-bin,  and  gave  a  fearful  yell  and  ran 
out  of  the  store,  saying  there  was  one  "boom, 
boom  uker"  (big,  big  snake)  there.  Soon  a  crowd 
gathered,  with  pitchforks,  boat-hooks,  hoes,  axes, 
and  two  double-barreled  guns.  Several  shots 
were  fired  at  it.  It  disgorged  three  fowls.  I 
missed  my  cats,  and  began  looking  for  them  ;  but 
they  were  not  to  be  found.  The  men  skinned  the 
snake, — they  always  skin  them, — and  when  they 
cut  it  there  were  my  two  cats.  The  snake  was  a 
boa-constrictor,  just  eleven  feet  long.  People 
who  eat  them  say  they  are  as  sweet  as  pork. 
Eats  are  also  eaten  by  many  of  the  people.  Bats 
are  quite  a  luxury, — not  the  small  bats  you  have 
in  America.  These  are  much  larger.  Mr.  Flick- 
inger  has  a  cap  made  from  bat-skins. 

"VYe  have  one  little  boy  in  the  mission  by  the 
name  of  Scipio  Africanus.  He  is  just  forty-five 
inches  high.     In  the  Sabbath-school  he  is  in  the 


260  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

infant  class,  taught  by  Sister  Betty  Caulker.  He 
often  comes  to  tell  me  what  his  teacher  tells  the 
class.  He  gets  his  English  fearfully  mixed  up. 
A  few  Sabbaths  ago  he  told  me,  "  Yearn  [mammy] 
Betty  been  say  dat  time  when  Jesus  been  born 
persons  been  there  for  mind  sheep  and  koolang 
[goats].  One  angel  came  to  um.  He  shine  like 
sun.  Dem  people  'fraid  de  angel;  so  he  tell  um^ 
'No  for  'fraid;  I  no  go  hurt  you.  I  come  for 
bring  you  good  news.'  That  time  there  been 
some  people  come  out  far  country.  Them  ask 
the  king  which  side  Jesus  dere,  Dat  time  when 
he  been  born  him  mammy  put  him  in  dat  place 
where  dem  cow  can  eat."  This  little  boy  has  a 
wonderful  memory,  and  is  very  fond  of  learning. 
He  says  he  wants  to  see  his  mother,  but  he  wants 
to  know  book  lirst. 

All  (nir  children  who  were  carried  otf  by  the 
Purrow-devil  are  back  again.  Their  backs  and 
breasts  are  cut  in  the  regular  heathen  style.  At 
first  some  of  them  tried  to  hide  it  from  me. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

industrial  school  in  africa. 

You  ask  for  my  jilans  a])0ut  the  industrial 
school,  or  farm.  I  jjropose  to  pusli  it,  and  make 
it  pay  for  the  keeping  of  every  child.  That  is  all 
I  am  aiming  at.     We  are  not  well  lixed  yet,  but 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  261 

^ve  are  making  all  our  own  palm-oil ;  and  when 
it  rains  so  that  the  children  can  not  work  on  the 
farm  I  have  them  cracking  palm-nuts.  We  sell 
the  kernels  at  hve  shillings  per  bushel,  in  cash. 
My  next  report  will  show  a  few  shillings  for 
kernels ;  and  when  we  get  fixed  we  will  make 
palm-oil  soap,  and  sell  it.  Next  dry  season  I 
shall  sell  some  arrowroot  and  some  ginger ;  also, 
some  cassava.  We  have  sold  some  cassava  al- 
ready. Everything  on  the  farm  looks  well,  except 
the  corn  and  cotton.  I  do  not  count  much  on 
them  this  year,  but  I  shall  not  give  them  up.  We 
shall  get  some  cotton.  I  liave  sent  a  sample  to 
England,  to  see  what  it  is  worth  there.  Our 
children  are  living  almost  altogether  on  farm- 
products — cassava  and  sweet-potatoes.  We  have 
a  good  lot  of  sweet-potatoes. 

I  am  now  setting  hedge-fence, — setting  posts 
and  tying  palings  to  them  to  protect  the  hedge 
until  it  grows.  I  am  planting  the  Bahama-grass 
for  pasture.  I  shall  keep  sheep  and  cows  as  soon 
as  the  fences  are  completed.  I  keep  a  watchman 
now,  who  carries  a  gun,  and  looks  after  things 
generally  at  night.  The  leopards  are  still  very 
numerous. 

I  think  you  need  have  no  fears  about  the  indus- 
trial farm  being  a  failure.  How  long  does  it  take 
to  get  a  farm  so  that  it  pays  in  America,  where 


262  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

you  have  practical  farmers,  and  horses  and  oxen 
that  are  broken  to  work,  and  no  one 'to  humbug^ 
you.  Joseph  Gomer. 

July  13,  1878. 

MR.    GOMER's    appeal    TO    SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

As  for  opening  new  schools,  I  shall  not  open 
any  until  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  it  is  right  to 
do  so. 

I  can  not  understand  why  it  is  that  so  many  of 
the  Sabbath-schools  in  America  are  so  fearful  to 
undertake  to  support  a  school  here.  They  should 
give  their  money  and  their  prayers  at  the  same 
time;  and  if  they  have  faith  like  old  Granny 
Aunt  Kate — the  old  lady  received  into  the  church 
here  at  dedication — they  would  have  no  fears. 
She  is  over  eighty  years  old,  and  walks  out  to 
Flickinger  Chapel  and  attends  the  six  o'clock 
Sabbath-morning  class.  It  is  a  wonder  how  she 
gets  her  living;  yet  she  always  wears  a  smile,. 
and  seems  to  trust  God  for  ever3'thing. 

But  perhaps  the  people  fear  they  will  not  be 
able  to  raise  the  money.  Did  not  Dr.  Cullis — one 
man — buy  grounds  and  put  up  a  very  large  hos- 
pital in  Boston,  on  iaith, — by  trusting  God  for 
the  money?  Will  not  God  perform  all  that  he 
has  promised  ?  I  believe  it  to  be  sin  not  to  trust 
him. 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  263 

But  I  am  not  complaining.  The  people  have 
done  nobly  for  Africa.  Did  not  the  good  people 
about  Otterbein  Station  and  Green  Hill  send  a 
good  lot  of  nice  clothes  for  our  poor,  naked  chil- 
dren ?  The  good  people  at  Westerville  also  sent 
their  full  share  of  clothing ;  and  before  they  are 
all  gone  we  get  another  good  supply  of  nice, 
ready-made  clothing,  for  both  girls  and  boys, 
made  to  lit  as  nicely  as  though  a  tailor  had  taken 
the  measure.  Surely,  God  is  helping  us  right 
alone:.  Then  whv  not  trust  him  ?  Last  Sabbath 
I  dressed  up  two  little  boys,  from  the  Lewisburg 
clothes,  and  they  were  the  happiest  little  fellows 
you  ever  saw.  Surely,  these  Christians  have 
made  unto  themselves  friends  of  the  mammon 
of  unrighteousness.  It  is  the  privilege — I  had 
nearly  said  the  duty — of  many  others  to  follow 
the  glorious  example  set  l)y  these  good  people. 
And  when  they  fail  they  would  be  astonished  to 
see  some  of  the  descendants  of  Ham  standing  on 
the  shining  shore  and  bidding  them  a  hearty  wel- 
come. 

But  I  must  close.  I  wish  you  could  send  a 
good  man  and  his  wife  out  here,  he  to  manage  the 
farm  and  his  wife  to  have  cliarge  of  the  children ; 
then  I  could  put  in  ail  my  time  laboring  among 
the  people  in  the  villages.  There  should  be  some 
one  to  visit  them  in  their  homes.     Our  itinerants 


264  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

just  visit  tliem  on  Sunday,  and  spend  only  an 
hour  at  each  place.  They  can  not  do  justice  to 
the  cause.  Joseph  Gomer. 

July  17,  1878. 

REV.    DANIEL    F,    WILBERFORCE. 

This  is  the  boy  who  came  from  Africa  in  the 
spring  of  1871,  entered  school  in  Dayton  in  De- 
cember of  the  same  year,  graduated  from  its 
high-school  with  special  honor  in  June,  1878,  be- 
.came  a  minister  and  a  member  of  Miami  Confer- 
ence in  August,  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Har- 
ris of  Dayton,  October  17th,  and  with  his  wife 
sailed  from  New  York  in  the  brig  Liberia  for  his 
native  land  November  6th,  1878.  Early  in  the 
year  1872,  after  being  in  Dayton  but  a  few 
months,  he  became  a  Christian  and  a  member  of 
the  United  Brethren  Church,  of  which  he  is  now 
a  missionary.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilberforce  were 
happily  converted  to  God,  became  members  of 
the  Third  United  Brethren  Church,— he  in  1872 
and  she  previously, — and  at  its  altar  they  were 
married,  and  from  its  communion  they  went  forth 
to  their  far-distant  Held  of  labor. 

Mr.  Wilberforce,  while  in  New  York,  wrote  a 
letter,  from  which  we  extract  the  following  : 

Our  trip  to  New  York  was  made  pleasant  in 
many  ways.     In  the   first  place,  the   conductor 


w 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  265 

with  wliom  we  left  Dayton  looked  after  us  kindly. 
He  not  only  introduced  us  to  several  persons  on 
board  the  train,  but  when  the  train  stopped  for 
supper  he  took  us  into  the  dining-hall  and  paid 
for  our  suppers.  We  were  much  surprised  at 
tliis,  for  it  is  not  often  that  we  find  conductors  so 
ready  to  oblige;  and  we  wondered,  too,  how  he 
knew  us  and  all  about  our  future  work.  He  was 
not  only  kind  to  us,  but  he  had  a  pleasant  smile 
for  everybody  who  spoke  to  him. 

On  the  train  w&t^  Dr.  Hoyt,  editor  of  the  West- 
ern Christian  Ach'ocate,  from  Cincinnati,  on  his 
way  to  IsTew  York.  lie  dropped  in  a  pleasant 
word  here  and  there,  and  gave  me  a  pamphlet  to 
read. 

We  traveled  all  Wednesday  afternoon  and 
night,  and  reached  New  York  City  late  on 
Thursday  night.  But  Mr.  Flickinger  was  at 
the  depot  to  meet  us,  and  I  was  very  glad  to  see 
him.  It  would  have  been  almost  impossible  for 
■us  to  get  along  without  him,  for  a  boarding-place 
had  to  be  secured. 

By  the  way,  the  prejudice  against  color  has  not 
been  taken  out  of  the  minds  of  the  people,  par 
ticularly  in  this  city.  New  York,  with  all  its 
educational  facilities,  its  many  churches,  its  tal- 
ented ministry, — yes,  metropolitan  New  York, — 
needs  missionaries  to  enlighten  its  people.     We 


266  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

find  every  kitchen,  dining-room, — in  short,  every 
place, —  filled  with  colored  servants  ;  but  when 
Mr.  Flickinger  made  application  for  our  accom- 
modation, out  of  four  hotels  there  were  none  that 
that  could  keep  us. 

"We  are  in  a  private  boarding-house  kept  by  a 
colored  man.  We  like  the  place,  and  would 
rather  stay  here  than  in  a  hotel ;  but  it  is  a  long- 
distance from  the  business  part  of  the  city.  Mr> 
Flickinger  came  on  Saturday  evening  to  board 
with  us,  as  he  preferred  to  be  with  us  while  we- 
were  in  the  city.  He  is  still  boarding  with  us.  I 
believe  he  eats  as  much,  walks  as  fast,  does  bis 
business  as  well,  sleeps  as  sound, — even  though 
he  boards  in  a  house  owned  and  kept  by  a  colored 
man,  and  eats  at  a  table  surrounded  by  colored 
people. 

We  finished  our  work  of  preparation  at  4:00' 
p.  M.  to-day,  when  Mr.  Flickinger  said,  "Now,  I 
can  make  the  5:30  train  ; "  and  he  did.  We  have- 
orders  to  be  aboard  at  9:00  a.  m.  to-morrow,  and 
if  all  goes  well  we  will  be  out  of  sight  of  laud. 
twenty-four  hours  hence.  Truly,  we  have  much 
to  thank  the  Lord  for,  as  well  as  the  good  people 
of  Dayton  and  elsewhere,  and  especially  I,  who 
have  been  snatched  from  the  degradation  of  hea- 
thenism through  their  kind  interposition. 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  267 

GOOD    NEWS    FROM    AFRICA. 

Mr.  Wilberforce  and  wife  landed  in  Freetown, 
West  Africa,  December  17th,  after  a  voyage  of 
forty  days  from  New  York.  They  suffered  but 
little  with  sea-sickness,  and  were  in  good  health 
and  spirits  when  they  landed.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Go- 
mer,  who  liad  been  in  Freetown  several  days 
awaiting  their  arrival,  accompanied  them  to  Shen- 
gay  on  the  23d.  Mr.  Gonier  says  of  the  condition 
of  the  work : 

In  all  of  our  stations  where  we  have  held  meet- 
ings or  taught  school — Otterbein  excepted — the 
hand  of  God  has  been  manifest.  Meetings  have 
been  held  every  Sabbath,  with  few  exceptions,  at 
Shooney,  Senehoo,  Kattah,  and  Tissannah,  vil- 
lages near  Shengay,  and  at  Thumljah,  JJendoo, 
Bonthe,  Tiama,  and  Manoh,  also  at  IScnehoo, 
Bowmah,  and  Tissannah,  near  Bomphetook.  Bro. 
Hero  has  held  meetings  occasionally  at  Martin, 
Moyah,  and  Mo  C'a:mo,  near  Mambo. 

At  Shengay  the  meetings  have  not  been  as  well 
attended  as  we  could  wish ;  yet  there  has  been  a 
good  interest  in  the  seekers"  meeting,  held  Sunday 
morning  at  s.x  o'clock.  Fourteen  from  it  have 
been  received  into  the  Church,  nine  of  whom 
were  mission-boys.  There  are  still  twenty-three 
names  on  the  seekers'  class-book.  The  average 
attendance  at  the  Sunday-school  is  about  seventy, 


268  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

and  at  the  daj-scliool  about  forty.  We  have  now 
in  the  industrial  school  nineteen  boys  and  live 
girls. 

The  meetings  at  Otterbein  Station  have  not 
been  well  attended. 

At  iSenehoo  and  Bowmah,  near  here,  the  meet- 
ings are  encourao^ino-.  The  averao-e  attendance  at 
the  day-school  is  only  eighteen. 

The  work  at  Manoh  Station  is  very  encourag- 
ing .  Mrs.  Curtis,  the  teacher,  has  a  large  seekers^ 
class.  There  are  four  whom  she  believes  are  con- 
verted. One  is  the  head-man  of  the  town,  two 
others  are  among  the  chief  men,  and  the  fourth 
is  an  old  wonuin.  I  visited  the  school  a  few 
weeks  ago.  There  were  twenty-six  children  m 
attendance ;  but  Mrs.  Curtis  says  that  several  of 
them  do  not  attend  regularly.  She  also  teaches 
a  night-school  for  adults,  with  an  attendance  of 
from  twenty  to  thirty-live. 

We  have  a  good  start  at  Thumbah  Station,  The 
chief,  Kong  Cottle,  is  a  line  nnm,  and  encourages 
the  work.  He  attends  the  meetings  regularly 
when  at  home.  There  is  a  regular  daily  attend- 
ance at  the  school  of  fourteen  scholars — all  boys. 

We  are  truly  thankful  to  God  for  tiie  prospects 
at  Mambo. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  26^ 

ANOTHER   LETTER   FROM    SHENGAY. 

Kev.  J.  B.  Elliott,  manager  of  Western  District, 
in  the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  was  twice  called  to 
go  to  Shengay  in  the  month  of  Octoher,  1878, 
While  there  he  wrote  the  following  to  our  treas- 
urer, Rev.  J.  K.  Billheimer.  The  letter  is  dated 
Shengay,  October  7th. 

From  the  above  yon  will  see  where  I  am  while 
writing  this,  and  will  l)e  pleased  to  hear  something 
of  the  place  where  you  once  labored  and  suft'ered 
much.  The  seed  was  not  sown  in  vain,  nor  are 
your  labors  as  the  pioneer  of  your  missionary  so- 
ciety unrewarded. 

What  a  great  contrast,  when  comparing  the 
past  with  the  present.  I^Tow  you  have  tirst-rate 
day-schools  and  Sabbath-schools  equal  to  any  at 
Freetown,  Bible  and  other  classes  well  attended, 
church-services  well  crowded  with  anxious  wor- 
shipers, and  an  industrial  school  in  good  working 
order. 

There  are  very  good  cassava,  corn,  and  })otato 
farms,  growing  beautifully,  worked  })artly  Ijy  the 
children  before  and  after  school.  I  was  wonder- 
fully surprised  at  the  answers  tlie  children  gave 
to  the  questions  in  geography,  grammar,  and 
arithmetic. 

I  preached  to  a  crowded  assembly  in  the  church 


270  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

yesterday    morning   and    on    a    night    previous, 
through  an  interpreter. 

Brother  and  Sister  Gomer  work  very  hard, 
without  complaining  or  making  any  fuss.  Punct- 
uality and  economy  are  strictly  carried  out;  and 
without  doubt  they  are  the  hardest-working  mis- 
sionaries I  have  yet  known.  I  wish  you  had 
many  such  whom  you  could  send  over  here. 

MORE    WORK    FOR    CHRIST. 

I  have  been  very  busy  since  my  arrival,  and 
things  are  going  on  nicely  here.  More  work  for 
Christ  is  our  motto.  We  ought  to  open  another 
station  soon.  You  must  not  disappoint  us.  I 
want  one  in  the  Cockborough  liiver  country 
soon.  Let  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  extend.  Let 
no  consideration  of  dollars  and  cents  hinder  the 
progress  of  our  work.  I  visited  Tom  Tucker's 
town.  He  wants  a  school  there ;  the  people  also 
desire  a  school.  You  know  Tom  is  really  head- 
man of  the  place;  and  he  calls  himself  an  Ameri- 
can, therefore  his  town  must  be  ours.  I  took  the 
small  boat  the  other  day  and  went  to  look  at  the 
place.  The  people  received  me  gladl}'.  At  night 
I  held  services,  and  there  were  upward  of  forty 
present.  The  people  were  very  attentive.  This 
was  the  iirst  meeting  ever  held  in  the  place.  It 
was  somewhat  amusing,  when  we  knelt  to  pray. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  271 

to  hear  those  who  had  caught  the  idea,  calHng 
to  the  others  to  kiieeL  Of  course  all  through  the 
•congregation  they  were  calling  upon  each  otlier. 
•Quiet  must  be  restored  before  we  could  proceed ; 
but  those  who  were  trying  to  quiet  the  others 
made  so  much  noise  doing  it  that  it  was  just  as 
bad.  The  people  thanked  us  very  kindly.  When 
^we  were  about  to  leave  that  night  they  gathered 
on  the  bank,  uttering  their  regrets  at  parting. 
And  so  affected  was  I  by  this  mark  of  God's 
favor  on  my  work  that  evening  that  I  resolved 
by  his  grace  to  do  something  for  this  people.  I 
can  not  bear  the  thought  that  they  must  die  in 
their  present  condition.  Let  us  have  a  school 
bere.  Let  us  win  the  country  for  Christ.  Tom 
Tucker's  people  must  be  saved.  We  owe  a  debt 
to  Tom  that  has  never  been  paid.  More  than  all, 
we  owe  humanity,  we  owe  God,  a  delit  that  must 
be  paid,  or  he  will  call  us  shortly  to  account. 
Tom  Tucker's  town  for  God !  should  ring  forth 
ss  the  watch-word  from  every  Sabbath-school  i*n 
the  land.  Had  I  the  power  I  would  write  in 
flaming  characters  these  words.  I  would  write 
them  over  every  pulpit,  in  every  Sunday-school. 
I  would  point  to  them  continually,  until  every 
one  would  be  made  to  feel  as  did  Belshazzar  be- 
fore the  handwriting  on  the  wall  in  the  Babylo- 
nian  palace.      Some    Sabbath  -  school   ought    to 


272  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

respond  at  once.      Now  let   us   have  immediate 
response.     Let  not  one  school  wait  for  another. 
Ever  yonrs. 

Daniel  -F,  Wilberforce. 

Freetown,  West  Africa,  April,  IST.K 

THOMAS    TUCKER. 

Thomas  Tucker  was  picked  ujj  on  Sherhro 
Island,  twenty-live  years  ago.  His  heathen  or 
"country"  name  was  "  Tong."' 

Tongwas  a  genuine  heathen  boy,  without  learn- 
ing, not  only  not  knowing  the  lirst  letter  of  the 
alphabet,  but  not  knowing  that  such  a  thing  ex- 
isted. He  soon  became  interested  in  the  iiiis-sion- 
work,  and  proved  himself  a  truthful  and  devoted 
servant.  There  are  in  the  character  of  Thomas 
Tucker  several  elements  that  are  not  common. 
One  is  honesty;  another,  gratitude;  and  another^ 
humility. 

In  Africa,  Christianity  means  elevation,  removal 
from  a  lower  to  a  higher  position  or  station  in 
life.  As  this  does  not  come  as  the  result  of  merit, 
either  entailed  or  acquired,  but  from  the  unsellish 
lal)ors  of  Christian  men  and  women,  one  would 
natural]}'  look  for  gratitude,  at  least;  and  when 
we  fail  to  lind  honesty,  humility,  and  gratitude,' — 
as  is  too  often  the  case, — it  is  discouraging. 

What  used  to  be  Tong,  the  ignorant  heathen 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  273 

boy,  is  now  Thomas,  the  enlightened  Christian 
man.  He  is  a  liome  evangelist,  a  kind  of  local 
preacher,  without  qnarterly  or  annual  conference 
license.     He  speaks  the  Sherbro  dialect. 

"a  side-door." 

We  have  also  entered  at  a  small  side-door,  so  to 
speak.  This  door  was  mdocked  in  1857,  and  for 
nnn-e  than  twenty  years  it  has  been  standing  open 
night  and  day.  It  opens  to  us  a  field — not  a  har- 
vest-field of  rijte  grain  ready  for  the  reaper,  but  a 
field  all  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  the  vilest 
passions,  the  darkest  deeds,  and  the  grossest  su- 
perstitions of  which  the  lowest  order  of  mind  is 
capable — waiting  for  the  sharp-edged  sword  of 
the  Spirit  to  clear  the  ground  and  prepare  it  for 
the  seed  of  the  word  of  God. 

Sherbro  Mission  has  already  assumed  propor- 
tions of  no  mean  dimensions.  Twenty -two  years 
ago  a  little  fire  was  kindled  on  the  western  shores 
of  upper  Sherbro.  At  first  it  burned  slowly,  and 
tlirew  a  very  faint  light  against  the  dark  back- 
ground of  heathen  life.  At  one  time  the  fire 
came  very  near  going  out;  and  but  for  an  over- 
ruling Providence  it  would  have  gone  out.  Deep 
and  important  interests  were  placed  in  the  bal- 
ances at  the>  sixteenth  session  of  this  Board,  and 
at  the  General  Conference  at  Lebanon^  Pennsyl- 

18 


274  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

vania,  which  made  them  quiver.  Had  the  inter- 
ests of  this  mission  been  left  entirely  to  the  wis- 
dom of  men,  it  would  have  been  abandoned ;  but 
God  himself  came  to  the  rescue  and  saved  to  the 
Church  this  important  field. 

J.  K.  BiLLHEIMER. 

February,  1879. 

LETTER    FROM    MRS.    GOMER. 

My  health  is  not  the  best.  The  house-work  in 
the  mission,  with  nine  heathen  children,  is  no  easy 
task.  No  person  but  those  who  have  been  placed 
in  the  same  situation  can  form  the  slightest  idea 
of  the  amount  of  patience  required.  My  Lewis- 
burg  class  of  seven  little  girls  has  grown  to  fif- 
teen or  twenty.  There  are  some  little  boys  in  it; 
and  it  is  no  use  to  try  to  send  them  away.  I  teach 
them  in  Thomas  Caulker's  gate-house.  You  know 
how  it  is  arranged.  Last  Sabbath,  just  after 
service  commenced  in  Flickinger  Chapel, — which 
was  well  filled, — a  woman  with  her  babe  went 
and  sat  on  the  front  steps.  A  snake  came  and 
bit  her  on  the  foot.  She  screamed,  and  nearly  all 
the  people  left  the  church.  They  killed  the  snake. 
For  several  hours  the  woman  was  in  great  pain, 
but  she  will  recover.  M.  W.  Gomer. 

Freetown,  West  Africa,  May  10,  1879. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  275 

LETTER   FROM    MR.    WILBERFORCE. 

I  found  my  people  at  Borithe,  British  Sherbro, 
my  birthplace,  all  well.  Father,  mother,  and  sis- 
ters wept  when  they  saw  me.  They  had  almost 
given  up  the  hope  of  ever  seeing  me  at  home ; 
and  now  that  they  saw  me  with  their  own  eyes 
their  joy  was  unbounded.  When  my  father  heard 
I  was  coming  home  from  America — I  wrote  just 
as  we  were  leaving  New  York — he  began  prepa- 
rations for  a  grand  dinner.  A  few  days  after  my 
arrival  the  dinner  was  given.  There  were  killed 
many  fowls  and  ducks,  and  two  pigs.  "We  had  a 
grand  time.  The  mission -house  was  used  for  the 
missionaries  and  those  of  my  friends  \^ho  had 
been  my  former  school-mates.  The  country  peo- 
ple and  others  preferred  to  have  their  dinner  at 
my  sister's  house.  With  plenty  of  rice  and  soup, 
there  was  nothing  that  could  mar  the  enjoyment 
of  my  country  relatives.  Father  gave  me  a  sheep, 
and  I  took  it  to  Shengay.  It  was  quite  a  pet.  I 
called  it  "  Dick."  It  was  a  pet  with  all  the  mis- 
sion-children. I^ot  long  ago  I  went  to  visit  my 
uncle,  and  while  I  was  gone  poor  "  Dick  "  sick- 
ened and  died.  Mr.  Gomer  ordered  the  men  to 
throw  the  sheep  into  the  sea,  but  instead  they  took 
it  to  Shengay,  and  I  suppose  had  a  grand  feast. 
You  know  everything  possible  is  eaten  here — 
snakes,  rats,  and  things  that  make  one  almost  sick 


276  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

to  mention.  When  you  came  to  Africa  last,  you 
went  to  see  my  father.  My  uncle  was  there  at 
the  time.  He  has  a  vast  territory,  about  half  a 
day's  walk  from  Avery  Station,  Mendi  Mission. 
When  I  went  there  uncle  was  not  at  home ;  but 
I  met  with  a  hearty  reception.  Across  the  river 
from  my  uncle's  place  is  the  site  of  my  grand- 
mother's town.  The  people  asked  me  if  I  had 
come  to  rebuild  the  town.  I  said  no,  not  just 
tlien,  because  my  work  for  the  present  was  at 
Shengay.  They  seemed  very  much  disappointed. 
I  am  the  only  boy  left  in  our  family,  and  to  me 
they  look  to  rebuild  the  place.  I  pray  God  the 
time  may  come  when  I  shall  be  able  to  do  some- 
thing for  them.  My  uncle  is  getting  old.  He  is 
in  religion  a  Mohammedan.  Our  family  is  called 
a  Mohammedan  family.  But  for  the  grace  of 
God,  I  too  might  this  day  be  calling  on  the 
Prophet  Mohammed.  I  never  said  anything 
while  in  America  of  my  family,  or  of  the  place 
that  properly  belongs  to  us.  To  be  an  African 
chief  is  no  honor.  I  do  not  see  any  of  the  chiefs 
here  whose  position  can  be  envied.  A  man  in 
authority  here  might  do  very  much  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  thus  bring 
credit  to  himself  and  honor  to  his  God.  The 
country  in  which  my  uncle  lives  is  an  excellent 
one.     A  saw-mill  might  be  built  there  with  fair 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  277 

prospect.  Mr.  Burton  years  ago  tried  to  get  the 
place,  but  one  of  my  uncles,  now  dead,  refused. 

At  my  uncle's  place  they  have  some  cows,  and 
he  gave  me  one.  While  I  was  there  I  remarked 
that  we  use  our  cattle  to  plow  our  lields,  instead 
of  having  them  run  about  through  the  town  as 
theirs  were  doing.  The  people  who  heard  me 
wondered  how  oxen  could  be  made  to  plow  the 
ground.  Some  suggested  that  they  used  the  feet 
in  plowing ;  others  advanced  ideas  as  ridiculous. 
Finally,  I  told  them  that  we  had  one  big,  big  hoe 
(plow);  that  the  oxen  were  tied  to  this,  and  the 
man  holding  the  hoe  walked  behind  them,  while 
the  big  hoe  dug  its  way  through  the  ground. 
Their  surprise  was  unbounded.  Clapping  their 
hands  over  their  mouths,  they  exclaimed,  '■'■Ah! 
a-po-tho!  a-po-tho!"  (Ah!  white  people !  white 
people ! ) 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  meetings  are  still  in- 
teresting, though  on  account  of  the  rains  they  are 
not  so  largely  attended  as  formerly.  Our  class- 
meeting  was  very  good  last  week ;  though  the 
night  was  dark,  many  came.  On  Thursday  night 
we  had  a  rousing  prayer-meeting.  The  Spirit  of 
God  was  there.  It  is  not  often  we  have  such 
meetings  here.  Our  people  are  just  taking  hold 
of  truth  and  righteousness — not  as  rich  in  experi- 
ence as  those  in  Christian  lands.     We  are  striving 


278  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

to  impress  the  true  ideas  of  civilization  both  by 
word  and  example.  We  want  to  stir  up  more  in- 
terest among  the  young  people.  To  do  this  we 
had  a  debate  last  night  on  the  subject,  "  From 
whom  has  mankind  received  the  most  benefit,  the 
agriculturist  or  the  merchant."  Both  sides  were 
well  argued.  It  was  quite  an  enjoyable  time. 
We  ought  to  have  a  small  printing-press  here, 
and  a  monthly  paper  edited  by  the  missionaries. 
At  any  rate,  we  should  have  a  press, 

Daniel  F.  Wilberforce. 

Sherbro  Mission,  West  Africa,  May  19,  1879. 

CHIEF    GEOBGE    CAULKER. 

Mr.  Caulker  is  not  an  ordinary  chief  of  a  town  • 
his  jurisdiction  and  authority  extend  over  a  large 
part  of  the  Sherbro  country  of  Avest  Africa.  He 
succeeded  his  father,  the  late  Thomas  Stephen 
Caulker,  chief  of  the  Plantains,  Shengay,  etc.^ 
and  at  his  instance  signed  the  deed  of  conveyance 
to  the  missionary  society  of  the  lands  now  known 
as  Shengay  Station. 

When  a  young  man  his  father  sent  George  to 
England,  where  he  received  a  fair  education,  and 
in  this  respect  has  a  great  advantage  over  his  fel- 
low-chiefs. Having  a  good  understanding  of  the 
English  language,  as  well  as  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  Sherbro  dialect,  he  makes  one  of  the  most 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  279 

efficient  interpreters  we  can  find;  and  we  are  glad 
to  say  he  very  frequently  attends  the  Sabbath- 
services  at  Shengay,  interpreting  the  scripture  les- 
sons and  sermons,  though  not  a  Christian  himself. 
He  was  our  interpreter  at  the  dedication  of  Bom- 
phetook  Chapel,  at  which  time  there  was  read 
the  sixth  chapter  of  II.  Chronicles — part  of  it 
before  and  the  balance  after  the  sermon.  This 
was  not  only  ably  interpreted  by  Mr.  Caulker, 
but  so  impressed  was  he  by  Solomon's  grand  ut- 
terances in  that  prayer,  by  which  the  temple  was 
consecrated,  that  he  had  much  to  say  of  its  beauty 
and  power  afterward.  He  was  frequently  deeply 
affected  by  the  truth  of  God,  and  during  his  last 
illness  prayed  much. 

He  died  September,  1881,  and  his  brother, 
Thomas  iSTeal  Caulker,  became  chief. 

LUCY    CAULKER    CURTIS. 

Mrs.  Curtis  is  one  of  our  teachers  in  Africa. 
Lucy  is  one  of  the  numerous  daughters  of  old 
King  Caulker.  She  was  one  of  the  first  to  come 
to  our  school  at  Shengay,  and  was  one  of  the 
three  first  converts.  She  was  at  a  verly  early  age 
given  to  a  white  trader  as  a  "country  wife." 
Against  this  she  protested,  although  it  was  usu- 
ally considered  a  great  honor.  We  missed  her 
from  the  mission-school  and  the  inquirer's  class. 


280  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

She  had  gone,  and  was  living  a  life  of  sin.  "Was 
it  her  sin,  or  that  of  her  father?  With  Lucy  the 
separation  from  the  man  who  was  called  her  hus- 
band was  only  a  question  of  time.  Heathen 
children  are  taught  to  obey  their  parents,  not 
only  while  tliey  are  children,  but  after  they  have 
grown  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood.  Lucy 
patiently  submitted  to  her  condition  while  her 
father  lived.  Shortly  after  his  death  she  insisted 
on  boino;  married  accordino;  to  Eno-lish  law  to  the 
man  with  whom  she  had  lived,  and  thus  legiti- 
mize their  chiklren,  or  she  would  separate  from 
him.  This  he  refused  to  do,  and  she  at  once  left 
him.  During  all  these  years  of  trial  Lucy  kept 
her  Bible  near  her,  and  did  not  forget  the  lessons 
taught  her  at  the  mission.  She  returned  to  Shen- 
gay  and  built  herself  a  house  midway  between 
the  town  and  the  mission-station,  thus  becoming 
a  kind  of  link  between  her  heathen  people  and  a 
Christian  mission. 

Lucy  has  for  some  years  been  employed  by  the 
mission  as  a  teacher  and  helper  in  our  general 
missionary  work  in  Africa.  Her  relation  to  the 
people,  owing  to  her  birth,  and  her  firm  stand  for 
the  principles  of  Christianity  have  given  her 
great  influence  among  the  Sherbro  people.  For 
some  time  she  has  had  charge  of  Manoh  Sta- 
tion, about  ten  miles  distant  from  Shengay,  where 


IN    WESTERN   AFRICA.  281 

she  teaches,  and  conducts  prayer-meetings.  She 
also  has  a  Sabbath-school,  and  is  under  God  do- 
ing- an  excellent  work  at  Manoh. 

CANNIBALS  AND  IDOLATORS. 

One  year  ago  the  people  would  kill  and  eat 
■each  c^her  at  Yondoo,  Boniba,  and  Bacooh.  They 
would  disguise  themselves  in  leopard-skins,  with 
iron  claws  on  their  hands.  They  Avould  watch  for 
their  prey  and  spring  upon  it.  Brother  Flick- 
inger  has  a  set  of  these  iron  claws,  which  were 
taken  from  one  of  these  cannibals,  wdio  was 
caught  by  tlie  king.  A  few  months  ago  the 
native  Christians  at  Shengay  organized  a  native 
missionary  society,  to  send  the  gospel  to  these 
poor  people.  The  messengers  of  peace,  wdio  have 
been  sent  from  time  to  time,  have  been  received 
with  open  arms  at  all  these  villages.  The  meet- 
ings are  well  attended ;  and  now  they  say  they 
want  a  missionary  to  come  and  sit  down  there — 
to  remain  among  them.  The  object  of  this  new 
a,id- society  is  to  employ  one  man,  to  travel  a 
large  circuit,  to  read  the  Bible,  preach,  and  talk 
about  the  Christian  religion  to  many  people. 
They  have  not  the  means  to  employ  a  permanent 
teacher  there.  My  object  in  writing  this  article 
is  to  beg  the  Christians  of  America — some  church, 
Sabbath -school,   or   conference, —  to    send   §100, 


282  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

$150,  or  $200  a  year  to  support  a  school-teacher 
there.  It  ought  to  be  $200,  in  order  that  we  may 
place  a  good  man  there. 

At  Mamho,  four  years  ago,  the  people  were 
worshiping  a  pile  of  bones  under  some  trees  in 
the  midst  of  the  town.  No  new  bones  have  been 
placed  there  since  the  Summit-street  Sabbath- 
school  teacher  and  preacher  has  been  there.  Just 
such  a  man  ought  to  be  at  Yondoo.  The  young^ 
man  who  first  pointed  out  these  bones,  and  ex- 
plained their  use  to  me,  told  me  that  a  few  years- 
before,  when  very  sick,  he  had  been  brought 
there,  and  a  sacrifice  made  to  them  for  his  recov- 
ery. A  missionary  showed  him  a  better  way> 
When  Brother  Flickinger  was  here  he  gave  this 
same  young  man  some  hymn-books  to  hold  serv- 
ice with,  in  the  village  where  he  lives,  which  I 
hear  he  does  regularly  every  Sabbath-day. 

J.   GOMER. 

West  Africa,  April  3,  1880. 

A    SURPRISE. 

I  arrived  here  the  9th  inst.,  and  yesterday 
morning,  as  the  bells  were  ringing  for  church,  I 
looked  out  of  the  window,  and  who  should  I  see 
coming  up  the  street  but  Brother  Flickinger,  who- 
had  just  landed.  I  thanked  God  in  my  heart.  If 
his  last  visit  here  was  hailed  with  delight,  this  is 
doubly  so;  for  there  are  many  things  to  be  done 


MRS.  M.  M.  MAIR. 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  283 

here  that  no  one  else  could  well  do.  Surely  his 
coming  at  this  time  is  most  providential.  Church- 
es and  schools  must  have  his  counsel.  And  then 
there  is  a  new  project  on  foot,  of  which  you  shall 
hear  more  hereafter.  Joseph  Gomer. 

Fieetowii,  Siene  Leone,  January  12,  1880. 

FIRST   VISIT    TO    ROTUFUNK. 

Though  I  have  been  in  Africa  this  time  only  ten 
days,  I  have  traveled  over  two  hundred  miles  in 
a  row-boat,  going  to  Rotufunk  with  Mr.  Gomer. 
We  saw  quite  a  number  of  alligators,  naked 
people,  mangrove  swamps,  and  some  beautiful 
country.  Our  business  was  to  see  Chief  Richard 
Caulker  and  others  in  authority  there,  to  obtain 
from  them  a  site  for  the  Woman's  Missionary 
Association  buildings,  near  the  town  of  Eotu- 
funk.  AVe  met  the  chief  in  his  canoe,  on  the 
Bomphe  River,  some  eight  or  ten  miles  this  side 
of  Rotufunk,  about  eleven  o'clock  Thursday 
night,  and  told  him  our  business.  He  assured 
us  he  would  meet  us  the  next  day  at  noon;  but 
it  was  night  before  we  saw  him,  and  then  we 
walked  a  mile  and  a  half  over  a  rough  road  to 
tind  him.  Mrs.  Mary  M.  Mair,  who  is  now  in 
charge  of  the  woman's  mission  in  Africa,  Rev. 
Joseph  Gomer,  superintendent  of  Sherbro  Mis- 
sion, and  two  boatmen, — who  carried  Mrs.  Mair 
and  ourself  across  a  very  muddy,  snaggy  swamp, 


284  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

with  water  in  it  three  feet  deep, — made  up  the 
company  that  called  upon  Mr.  Caulker.  He 
agreed-  to  he  ready  to  accompany  us  next  day  to 
Mamoo,  where  the  other  chiefs  were,  which  he 
did, — we  taking  him  and  three  other  dignitaries 
in  our  own  boat. 

We  had  come  only  a  short  distance  when  we 
met  a  man  paddling  a  canoe  up  the  river.  He 
called  out  to  Mr.  Caulker  that  one  of  his  wives 
had  "born  him  a  picken"  in  the  next  town.  He 
asked  what  time,  and  what  it  was;  and  after 
being  told,  he  slowly  said  over  these  words,  as 
though  he  wished  to  tix  them  well  in  his  mem- 
ory: "A  boy,  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  January 
17th,  1880."  We  soon  passed  that  town,  but  lie 
said  nothing  about  stopping  to  see  his  son.  We 
we  were  glad  of  it,  for  we  had  to  stop  farther 
along,  to  see  a  Mr.  Coker.  Mr.  Caulker  has  two 
wives  in  this  town.  He  has  two  at  Sammoh,  where 
he  joined  us  that  morning,  two  at  Bomphe,  where 
Mr.  Coker  lives,  two -at  Mamoo,  where  our  meet- 
ing was  held,  and  how  many  where  the  "  picken  " 
was  born,  and  in  other  places,  we  did  not  learn. 
We  landed  at  Mamoo  at  9  o'clock  and  left  at  4, 
with  the  paper,  properly  signed  by  Mr.  Caulker 
and  four  others,  giving  the  Woman's  Missionary 
Association  at  Rotufunk  the  use  of  one  hundred 
acres  of  ground  for  ninety-nine  years.    Our  meet- 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  285 

ine;  in.Mamoo  was  in  the  barra  in  the  center  of 
the  town.  The  next  house  to  it  on  one  side  was 
occupied  by  the  finest  -  looking  cow  and  calf  I 
liave  seen  in  this  part  of  Africa.  Asking  if  I 
could  buy  them,  the  head-man  said,  with  em- 
phasis, "  ISTo."  I  next  asked  if  I  could  buy  some 
bananas  or  rice  there.  The  reply  was,  "  Nothing 
for  sell.  Too  much  hungry  live  in  this  country." 
"We  then  asked  why  they  did  not  raise  plenty  of 
rice,  and  cattle,  and  everything,  as  they  had  rich 
land,  and  good  grass  for  cattle  and  horses,  and 
ought  to  have  plenty  of  food  to  eat  and  to  sell. 
"With  a  sad  look  the  head-man,  who  is  reported 
as  being  a  very  good  heathen  ruler,  said,  "  Too 
much  war  live  here.  If  we  work  and  get  any- 
thing, war  come  and  spoil  our  town," 

Rum  and  war — and  the  hrst  nuikes  most  of  the 
latter — are  great  evils  in  Africa;  and,  be  it  said 
to  our  shame,  Avhite  people  Avill  continue  to  send 
rum  here.  And  in  not  a  few  instances  the  white 
traders  of  this  country  instigate  war,  which  is 
often  carried  on  for  no  other  purpose  than  phin- 
der.  Working  and  getting  food  and  stock  and 
other  valuable  things  about  them  is  to  invite  war 
to  their  town.  Kather  than  to  have  tliat,  they 
grow  so  little  that  they  often  suffer  with  hunger 
themselves.  The  numerous  vices  introduced  here 
by  white  men,  added  to  the  many  already  exist- 


286  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ing  among  the  natives,  have  fearfully  degraded, 
yea,  well-nigh  destroyed,  the  people  of  western 
Africa. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  January  21,  1880. 

FUNERALS    IN   AFRICA. 

I  want  the  people  of  America  to  know  what 
a  mournful  sight  a  heathen  funeral  is,  that  they 
may  the  hetter  sympathize  with  these  poor  peo- 
ple. Surely  no  people  ever  needed  the  gospel 
and  the  prayers  of  Christians  more  than  these 
people.  I  am  just  from  the  town  of  Shengay, 
where  they  are  having  a  mammoth  "funeral  cry." 
About  two  weeks  ago  there  was  brought  to  Shen- 
gay, from  a  village  away  up  one  of  the  rivers,  a 
woman  who  was  very  sick.  Brothers  Flickinger 
and  Wilberforce  and  myself  called  on  her  one 
night,  but  she  was  past  speaking.  Brother  Wil- 
berforce asked  if  she  had  eyer  prayed.  They 
replied  that  she  was  not  able.  That  night  she 
died,  and  at  once  the  "cry"  began.  Loud  cries, 
sobs,  yells,  and  bitter  moans  are  heard,  and  drums 
and  other  musical  instruments  are  brought  into 
use.  All  relatives  and  friends,  and  even  strangers, 
are  expected  to  join  in  the  cry.  On  enteriug  the 
hut  where  the  corpse  is,  the  criers  kneel  or  pros- 
trate themselves  on  the  ground,  sometimes  em- 
bracing the  corpse,  at  the  same  time  weeping, 
sobbing,  and  uttering  the  most  bitter  cries.     Per- 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  287 

sons  who  will  not  join  iu  the  cry  are  considered 
not  to  be  friends ;  but  as  a  rule  there  is  no  want 
of  criers,  for  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  person 
must  supply  drink,  which  usually  consists  of  rum, 
gin,  or  palm-wine.  Where  the  friends  are  able 
all  of  these  are  provided,  and  food  also  for  per- 
sons from  distant  villages.  The  crying  is  kept 
up  night  and  day  as  long  as  drink  is  supplied. 
This  woman  died  Tuesday  night.  On  Thursday 
she  was  taken  to  Tassoh,  three  miles  distant,  for 
interment.  She  was  carried  by  four  men,  who 
were  frequently  relieved  by  others.  On  arriving 
at  Tassoh,  a  small  present  is  made  to  the  head- 
man of  the  village,  and  he  consents  to  the  inter- 
ment. The  grave  is  then  dug.  By  this  time  the 
mourners  arrive,  and  the  coffin  is  lowered  into 
the  grave.  And  now  begins  another  indescribable 
scene  of  bidding  the  corpse  good-by  and  of  send- 
ing messages  to  departed  friends, — such  as  "  Tell 
daddy  how  do,"  or  "Tell  mammy  how  do."  Some 
7ery  strange  messages  are  sent  to  the  other  world. 
The  crying  at  this  point  is  most  distressing.  After 
the  grave  is  filled  up  the  mourners  throw  them- 
selves on  it  and  roll  in  the  dirt.  The  party  now 
return  to  Shengay,  and  continue  crying,  drum- 
ming, dancing,  and  firing  guns  all  night.  Many 
of  the  more  civilized  people  in  Shengay  com- 
plain  they  can   not   sleep.      The   chief,    George 


288  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

Caulker,  is  not  at  home,  and  most  of  these  people 
are  strangers.  Joseph  Gomer. 

Mission-House,  ShengnV;  W.  A.,  January  24,  1880. 

MAiMBO    MISSION-STATION. 

Mr.  Hero  had  heen  told  that  we  were  coming- 
to  organize  a  church ;  and  he  thought  that  there- 
were  twenty -eight  names,  out  of  lifty-two  that 
he  had  in  his  l^ook  as  helievers  in  and  seekers  of 
Christ,  which  ought  to  go  upon  a  class-hook.. 
Among  these  were  the  head-man  and  the  most 
influential  citizens  of  Maniho.  We  told  him  that 
none  who  were  connected  with  tlie  liquor-traffic, 
or  held  slaves,  or  practiced  polygamy,  or  were 
members  of  the  Furrow  Society,  could  be  takeii 
into  the  organization.  He  had  gone  over  the  list 
of  names  several  times,  and  each  time  the  num- 
ber was  reduced.  When  the  fact  was  fully  rea- 
lized by  Mr.  Hero  and  his  wife — for  Sister  Hero 
as  well  as  her  husband  had  been  instrumental  in. 
inducing  these  people  to  turn  from  idolatry  to 
God — that  slavery  and  polygamy  would  keep  out 
of  the  Church  some  of  their  most  promising  con- 
verts, the  sadness  of  their  hearts  was  so  visible 
upon  their  countenances  that  we  })itied  tliera. 
They,  however,  cheerfully  accpiiesced,  and  said  it 
was  right.  They  then  carefully  went  over  the 
list  again,  and  gave  us  the  names  of  twelve  per- 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  289 

sons;  and  after  morning  service  on  the  22d  of 
February  these  persons  were  baptized  and  organ- 
ized into  a  church.  Mr.  and  Mrs,  Hero's  names 
were  also  added,  making  a  class  of  fourteen  mem- 
bers at  Mambo,  with  as  many  more  who  are 
worthy  of  being  members  as  soon  as  they  can 
free  themselves  from  slavery  and  polygamy. 

ORGANIZATION   OF   MISSIONARY   DISTRICT   IN  AFRICA. 

We  did  not  decide  to  organize  such  a  district  in 
Africa  until  within  ten  days  of  the  time  it  was 
done.  Our  hesitation  was  mainly  caused  by  the 
fear  that  the  Church  in  America  would  not  sup- 
ply the  necessary  funds  to  enable  such  an  organi- 
zation to  prosper  as  would  l)e  expected.  There 
being,  besides  Brothers  Gomer  and  Wilberforce, 
four  native  ministers  employed  in  Africa,  none  of 
whom  have  been  tried  less  than  two  years,  and 
all  of  them  expressing  themselves  willing  and 
anxious  to  continue  in  the  work,  we  thought  it 
wise  to  organize  a  district,  which  we  did  March 
20th,  1880,  the  time  that  was  chosen  more  than  a 
month  before  for  a  meeting  oi'  all  our  teachers 
and  missionaries  at  iShengay  to  adopt  a  uniform 
plan  of  school-tea(;hing  and  working  generally. 
Accordingly,  Rev.  M.  Sawyer,  in  charge  of  Bom- 
phetook.  Rev.  J.  B.  W.  Johnson  of  Bomphe 
Town,  Frank  Dixon  of  Thumbah,  and  Lucy  Curtis 


290  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

Caulker  of  Manoh,  found  their  way  to  Sheugay 
on  the  19th,  and  early  next  morning  Rev.  J.  P. 
Hero,  from  Mambo,  arrived.  Revs.  J.  W.  Pratt, 
D.  F.  Wilberforce,  and  J,  Gomer  are  employed  at 
Shengay.  The  latter  two  and  mj'self  being  mem- 
bers of  Miami  Conference,  we  constituted  our- 
selves an  examining  committee,  before  whom 
Messrs.  Sawyer,  Johnson,  Pratt,  and  Hero  ap- 
peared at  7:00  A.  M.  to  answer  the  questions  pro- 
posed to  applicants  for  annual-conference  mem- 
bership, as  found  in  our  Discipline.  By  half-past 
nine  o'clock  we  had  our  work  done,  and  adjourned 
to  eat  breakfast. 

We  met  at  the  chapel  at  11:00  a.  m.,  and,  to  our 
surprise,  found  quite  an  audience,  it  having  been 
announced  the  Sabbath  before  that  all  the  mis- 
sionaries intended  to  meet  there  for  the  organi- 
zation of  a  mission-district.  Not  only  all  of  our 
missionaries  and  teachers  were  there,  but  Mrs. 
Mair  of  Rotufunk,  and  Mr.  Johnson,  her  teacher, 
also  favored  us  with  their  presence  and  counsel. 
A  half-hour  was  spent  in  devotional  exercises  and 
three  hours  in  business ;  and  truly  God  was  there 
to  help  us  sing,  pray,  think,  and  speak.  To  use 
the  language  of  others,  "  That  was  a  grand  time ;" 
"  Did  not  think  you  could  have  so  good  a  meet- 
ing as  that ; "  "  Why,  to  come  to  Shengay  seems 
like  being  in  a  Christian  land."     Discussing  the 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  291 

questions  of  how  to  open  a  high-school,  conduct 
Sunday-schools,  and  how  to  itinerate  to  the  best 
advantage,  etc.,  "Why,  is  this  Africa  or  Ameri- 
ca?" and  similar  expressions,  will  indicate  the 
feelings  of  those  present.  And  really  it  was  good 
to  be  there. 

ROTUFUNK    AND    SHENGAY. 

I  arrived  here  the  morning  of  the  20th,  at  four 
o'clock.  Mrs.  Mair  has  been  waiting  more  than 
two  weeks  for  pine  boards  to  finish  sheeting  the 
roof  of  the  new  house.  She  bought  country 
boards  on  the  21st  to  finish  three  sides  of  the 
piazza-fioor,  which  the  carpenters  are  working  at 
now,  and  will  complete  to-day,  I  think ;  and  as 
80on  as  the  sheeting  comes  the  shingling  can 
commence.  Mrs.  Mair  has  concluded  to  have 
one  room  finished  and  move  into  it,  and  then  dis- 
pense with  two  of  the  carpenters.  She  is  bu>;y, 
as  usual.  Mr.  Smith  has  found  plenty  of  water 
at  forty-two  feet,  and  is  walling  up  the  well.  The 
fence  is  finished,  and  a  little  garden  is  made. 

A  good  prayer-meeting  was  held  in  the  parlor 
Thursday  night.  These  meetings,  with  the  daily 
morning  prayers,  give  to  this  part  of  Kotufunk  a 
very  civilized  aspect.  There  is  no  end  to  the 
visitors  coming  and  going  every  day.  Where 
they  come  from  and  where  they  go  to  is  more 
than  I  can  tell. 


292  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

All  was  going  well  at  Shengay.  Our  corn  was 
planted,  and  gome  of  it  is  up.  I  left  them  plant- 
ing arrowroot.  Mr.  Wilberforce  was  busy  with 
the  school.  The  chief  was  at  Thumbah,  trying 
to  hnd  out  who  poisoned  Chief  Cockle. 

Last  evening  we  went  over  to  a  small  village 
*near  here,  and  as  I  looked  at  the  poverty  and 
wretchedness  of  the  people  I  thanked  God  that  I 
was  born  in  a  Christian  land.  The  rickety  and 
tumble-down  condition  of  their  mud-huts,  the 
great  scarcity  of  clothing  among  them, —  the 
children  having  no  clothing, — the  devil -houses 
and  the  train-houses,  together  with  the  gregrees, 
charms,  and  sabbas  worn  by  the  people  and  hung 
over  their  doors,  prove  that  Satan  does  not  waste 
his  time  in  idleness,  but  that  he  has  a  strong  hold 
upon  these  people.  Some  Mohammedans  were 
sitting  about  on  their  mats,  with  their  beads^ 
ready  to  say  their  prayers  just  as  the  sun  would 
drop  out  of  siglit  in  the  West.  They  all  sit 
with  their  faces  to  the  East,  toward  Mecca,  and 
bend  forward  until  their  foreheads  strike  the 
ground.  Some  have  done  this  so  much  that  there 
is  (piite  an  abrasion  on  their  forehead.  They  sit 
on  their  mats  in  front  of  their  huts,  or  in  the 
barra,  and  pray,  looking  all  about  them  mean- 
while. 

We  are  much   encouraged   in   our  work  here. 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  293 

The  Lord  is  with  us  and  for  us,  and  what  more 
can  we  ask?  "We  have  enemies  here  who  would 
rejoice  to  see  the  good  work  fail ;  but  Jesus  is  our 
captain,  and  he  will  surely  lead  us  to  victory. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

RotufuQk,  Africa,  April  23,  1880. 

LETTER   FROM    MR.    WILBERFORCE. 

I  have  just  this  evening  returned  from  some  of 
my  appointments  up  the  Cockborough  River.  I 
preached  on  Saturday  evening  at  M'Caibay,  on 
Sabbath  morning  at  M'Kelleh  and  Good  Hope, 
and  in  tlie  evening  at  Good  Hope,  making  in 
all  four  services.  A  hard  rain  gave  us  a  good 
drenching.  I  reached  home  wet  and  hungry,  but 
no  worse.  The  boat  will  leave  for  town  early  in 
the  morning,  and  I  must  send  you  a  letter. 

You  little  know  how  much  we  missed  you  after 
you  left  Freetown.  When  you  and  David  went 
away,  it  seemed  as  though  we  had  lost  some  one. 

Mrs.  Gomer,  Mrs.  "Wilberforce,  and  myself  are 
well,  but  Mr.  Gomer  has  a  sore  throat  that  troub- 
les him.  I  hope  you  reached  home  safe  and  sound 
together  with  David,  and  found  all  well. 

D.  F.  WiLBERFORCE, 
Shengay,  West  Africa,  May  'i,  1880. 

SAFE    RETURN. 

I  landed  at  New  York  the  6th  of  May,  1880, 
.after  a  voyage  of  thirty-six  days,  coming  from 


294  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

Africa  on  a  sail-vessel.  I  left  our  missionaries 
there  reasonably  well,  happy,  and  busy.  God  is- 
blessing  our  foreign  missions  abundantly. 

I  wish  to  record  my  heart-felt  gratitude  to  God 
for  his  loving  -  kindness  toward  nie  during  the 
seven  months'  absence  in  Germany  and  Africa, 
and  especially  in  making  the  days  and  nights 
spent  upon  the  deep  waters,  which  otherwise 
would  have  been  so  lonely  and  gloomy,  to  be  days 
and  nights  of  genuine  contentment  and  religious 
enjoyment ;  also,  for  giving  me  working-health 
every  day  I  was  in  Africa,  though  I  did  suffer 
considerably  from  climatic  influences  and  loss  of 
sleep  on  account  of  traveling  so  much  in  a  row- 
boat  at  night.  God  has  prospered  our  undertak- 
ings both  in  Germany  and  in  Africa  far  beyond 
what  we  had  reason  to  expect,  and  by  his  merciful 
providence  kept  the  intense  cold  of  Germany  as 
well  as  the  great  heat  and  malaria  of  Africa  from 
permanently  harming  me.  The  Lord  caused  me 
to  realize  in  a  marked  manner  that  his  ways  are 
ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  his  paths  are  peace. 

HAD    THEIR    OAVN    RELIGION. 

I  returned  this  morning  from  a  trip  over  to 
Yondoo.  I  visited  Rembee  and  Baccali  also.  I 
held  three  meetings  at  Yondoo,  all  of  which  were 
well  attended.     At  both  the  other  places  I  had 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  295 

about  forty  listeners.  There  was  much  water  in 
the  way.  Eembee  is  a  large  town,  and  well  de- 
serves a  school.  It  has  a  very  intelligent  head- 
man. At  Baccah  three  Mohammedan  women  sat 
on  mats  in  a  yard  opposite  where  I  held  the 
meeting,  which  took  place  in  the  open  air,  I 
standing  in  the  shade  of  a  house.  As  these 
women  were  looking  through  the  gate  and  watch- 
ing me,  I  told  the  head-man  to  invite  them  over. 
He  said  they  could  not  come.  I  sent  Alexander, 
my  interpreter,  to  ask  them  to  come  over,  and 
they  brought  their  mats  and  sat  down  in  the 
street  and  heard  me  through.  One  of  them  then 
came  to  thank  me.  I  asked  her  if  she  was  pleas- 
ed with  what  I  had  said.  She  said  no ;  that  she 
had  her  own  religion,  which  she  liked  better. 

Everything  at  Shengay  is  about  as  you  left  it. 
I  went  to  Bomphetook  and  ordered  the  school 
stopped  because  the  people  would  not  repair  the 
barra.  The  whole  town  turned  out  at  once  and 
repaired  it,  and  the  school  goes  on.  The  torna- 
does have  been  severe  this  season.  They  nearly 
stripped  the  mission-house  at  Bomphetook  and 
made  fearful  work  with  the  boys'  home  and  the 
laborers'  houses  here.  The  farm  is  coming  on 
nicely.  The  oxen  have  been  sick,  but  are  now 
well.  Joseph  Gomer. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  June  17,  18S0. 


296  MISSIONARY    LIFE 

LETTER   FROM    AFRICA. 

Yours  of  May  6th  was  received  yesterday,  on 
my  return  from  a  trip  to'  Yondoo,  Rembee,  and 
Barkoh.  I  have  not  forgotten  what  a  time  you 
and  I  had  that  day  we  started  for  Yondoo  but 
failed  to  get  there,  and  had  to  spend  several  hours 
under  a  scorching  sun,  on  a  small,  treeless  island, 
out  in  the  middle  of  the  bay.  I  have  taken  good 
care  ever  since  to  start  in  time,  and  to  push  my 
crew,  and  have  not  since  had  the  pleasure  (?)  of  a 
day  on  Porbarlot  banks.  We  praise  God  for 
your  safe  arrival  home. 

I  see  so  many  openings  that  God  has  made  in 
answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  Christian  church. 
To  undertake  a  work  of  such  magnitude  is  cer- 
tainly a  great  work,  and  must  be  arduous,  and 
the  sum  of  money  required  enormous;  but  then 
we  can  not  now  back  out  of  our  engagement. 
We  gave  our  word  as  a  church,  and  we  must 
abide  by  it.  We  must  not  bo  as  the  colored 
brother  who  went  into  the  held  to  pray,  saying, 
"  0  Lord,  look  on  this  poor  niggah.  Ise  done 
tired  libbin'  in  dis  world ;  Ise  ready  to  go ;  do. 
Lord,  take  poor  niggah  home ; "  and  when  it 
began  to  thunder,  and  the  lightning  to  Hash,  he 
became  frightened  at  what  seemed  a  certain  an- 
swer to  his  prayer,  and  cried  as  he  ran  away, 
"0  Lord  don't  do  it;  Ise  jes'  been  fooliu'."     God 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  297 

lias  opened  a  vast  territory,  into  which  the  church 
must  march  and  possess  the  land.  But  can  we, 
after  having  entered  into  sacred  covenant  with 
Him,  now  become  frightened  at  the  answer  he 
has  sent,  and  fall  back?     God  forbid! 

The  rains  arc  unusually  heavy  this  season.  But 
we  can  not  halt  till  the  Master  gives  the  com- 
mand. The  marching-order,  "  Go  forward ! "  has 
flashed  across  the  lines,  and  "  Forward ! "  should 
be  the  cry  from  every  officer  in  Christ's  army. 
Daniel  F.  Wilberforce. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  June  2a,  1880. 

PREACH    FIVE   TIMES    A    DAY. 

It  affords  me  pleasure  to  write  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  written  June 
17th.  I  am  sure  your  return  from  Africa  to 
America  will  create  joy  in  the  hearts  of  all  who 
take  deep  interest  in  the  work  of  missions.  The 
boy  Bail  Moore,  who  got  your  name,  begs  to  be 
kindly  remembered  to  you.  I  visit  and  preach 
in  all  the  towns  near  me  once  every  Sunday.  In 
fact,  I  preach  five  times  every  Sunday  v.'hen  the 
weather  permits.  The  more  distant  towns  I  visit 
•every  fortnight.  J.  P.  Hero. 

GREAT    CHANGES    TAKEN    PLACE. 

Great  changes  have  taken  place  in  this  part  of 
Africa  within  a  few  years,  both   in    the  educa- 


298  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

tional  and  religious  departments.  When  I  left 
Africa  in  1871,  Freetown  was  then  the  educa- 
tional and  religious  center.  Even  then  tliere  were 
but  very  few  institutions  that  could  teach  any- 
thing higher  than  that  afforded  in  the  ordinary 
mission-schools.  Now  there  are  four  institutions 
that  are  teaching  the  higher  branches  of  educa- 
tion,— English  and  classical.  Many  of  Africa'a 
sous  and  daughters  are  now  seen  crowding  inta 
the  temple  of  learning. 

And  assuredly  does  the  progress  of  religion 
keep  pace  with  the  march  of  education ;  for  a& 
the  youths  become  better  educated  the  pulpits 
become  better  supplied.  Ministers,  who  before- 
could  hardly  read  the  Scriptures,  are  now  replac- 
ed by  young  men  who  are  quite  efficient  in  inter- 
preting the  word  and  explaining  the  "  unsearcha- 
ble riches  of  Christ." 

The  greatest  progress  thus  far  made  by  any 
church  has  been  made  by  the  mission  at  Shengay^ 
Less  than  ten  years  ago  this  mission  had  no  name- 
whereof  to  boast.  Indeed,  it  was  a  question 
Avhether  the  work  of  this  mission  should  be  con- 
tinued. Many  hearts  were  discouraged ;  the  faith 
of  many  was  dim.  There  was  but  one  poor  sta- 
tion, struggling  with  strong  forces  that  sought  its 
overthrow.  Now,  instead  of  one,  there  are  four 
principal  stations  where  there  are  held  regular 


IN    WESTERN   AFRICA.  299 

preaching-services  and  teaching.  From  these  four 
stations  as  centers,  the  word  of  God  goes  out  to 
more  than  forty  villages  and  towns,  far  and  near. 
From  these  various  improvements  in  education 
and  religion,  I  am  justified  in  saying  that  we 
stand  upon  the  threshold  of  another  era  in  the 
liistory  of  Africa.  From  various  quarters  the  cry 
for  the  gospel  comes.  Many  eyes  are  turned  to 
us  for  help.  Daniel  F.  Wilberforce. 

Shengay  Mission,  July  31,  1880. 

WONDERFUL    SUCCESS. 

Last  Sahbath  I  was  at  Bomphetook.  Mr.  Saw- 
yer is  having  wonderful  success  there.  We  ad- 
mitted nine  persons  into  full  membership  and 
eight  as  seekers  of  religion.  Many  others  are 
almost  ready  to  renounce  heathenism.  Several  of 
the  old  members  have  returned  to  the  station, 
and  several  came  from  the  villages  where  they 
are  living.  The  people  from  the  villages  near 
are  attending  meetings  well  at  Manoh  and  Bom- 
phetook. Those  at  Baundah,  where  we  went 
from  Bomphetook,  are  attended  very  well.  I 
liavo  three  wooden  gods,  which  were  brought  in 
lately, — two  from  villages  near  Manoh  and  one 
from  near  liotufunk.  Raunchawah,  the  second 
head-man  at  Manoh,  brought  me  all  the  gregrees 
and  charms  out  of  his  house.     He  has  surren- 


300  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

dered  everything  now  except  slaves.  Though  he 
owns  none,  he  has  promised  to  pay  slaves  for 
debts  previously  contracted,  and  the  parties  will 
take  nothing  else.  Thus  you  see  Satan's  king- 
dom is  tottering,  and  gradually  it  is  falling  to 
pieces.  Mrs.  Wilberforce  was  very  sick,  and  was 
taken  to  town  to  a  doctor.  My  wife  and  myself 
are  having  most  excellent  health  now. 

Joseph  Gomer. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  September  22, 18S0. 

MRS.    MARY    M.    HAIR. 

We  have  a  most  vivid  recollection  of  our 
first  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Mair.  She  came  to 
America  from  Scotland  about  the  year  1854,  at- 
tended Oberlin  College  about  two  years,  whence 
with  her  husband  she  went  to  Africa  to  join  the 
Mendi  Mission.  In  this  field  she  has  for  many 
years  been  a  valuable  teacher.  She  teaches  not 
only  the  first  principles  of  a  common  education, 
but  the  practical  duties  and  work  of  life;  and 
not  these  alone,  but  that  country  and  people  have 
never  had  a  more  faithful  and  better  qualified 
teacher  of  God's  word  than  this  good  wonuin. 
Mrs.  Mair  is  a  close  student  of  the  Bible,  apt  ami 
always  ready  to  teach  the  way  to  heaven.  More 
than  one  missionary  is  indebte<l  to  her  watchful 
care  and  tender  nursing  for  the  prolongation  of 
life. 


IN   WESTERN    AFRICA.  301 

Mrs.  Mair  is  now  in  the  employ  of  the  Wom- 
an's Missionary  Association,  and  has  charge  of 
their  station  at  Rotufunk.  She  is  teacher,  and 
in  one  sense  preacher,  lawyer,  doctor,  house- 
keeper,— everything  necessary  to  be  done  in  a 
foreign  mission-station.  May  God  grant  that  the 
"Woman's  Missionary  Association  may  long  be 
favored  with  her  services. 

SECOND    VISIT    TO    MANOH 

Sabbath  morning,  March  7th,  1880,  at  4:00  A. 
M.,  Mr.  Wilberforce  and  myself  had  the  boat 
"Sandusky"  and  a  crew  of  four  men,  including 
one  of  the  mission-boys,  in  readiness  to  go  to 
Manoh,  which  place  we  reached  at  eight  o'clock, 
Mrs.  Curtis  and  other  missionaries  here  thought 
a  church  ought  to  be  organized  there;  and  we 
concluded  to  meet  the  people  and  learn  their  true 
condition. 

Mrs.  Curtis  had  a  list  of  fourteen  names,  which 
she  said  represented  persons  who  came  regularly 
to  all  the  meetings  and  were  living  good  lives. 
We  reminded  her  that  live  things  must  be  abso- 
lutely given  up  by  all  who  became  members  of 
the  Church ;  namely,  polygamy,  slavery,  Purrow- 
ism,  the  liquor-trliic,  and  working  on  the  Sab- 
bath. She  said  all  that  had  been  told  them  ;  but 
she  was  glad  that  we  had  come  to  tell  the  people 
ourselves. 


302  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

They  listened  very  attentively  to  our  statement ; 
and  then  the  head-man  said  he  had  neither  slave 
nor  wife,  had  quit  the  Purrow,  and  used  no  strong 
drink.  The  second  head-man  said  he  had  one 
wife,  and  one  slave  which  he  holds  the  same  as  a 
sister.  She  is  good,  and  make  farm  for  him,  and 
they  get  on  nicely.  He  said  our  law  was  good 
for  the  children  we  were  training  up  in  the  mis- 
sion-schools, but  that  they  were  "  only  bush  peo- 
ple, and  no  sabbe  book,"  and  were  old  now  and 
could  not  change  well.  Another  old  man  said  he 
"gree"with  the  rules  of  the  Church;  they  are 
good,  and  he  would  live  up  to  them.  Then  a 
younger  man  said  he  would  also  do  so ;  and  the 
head-man's  son  also  agreed  to  live  up  to  the  rules 
of  the  Church ;  only  he  "  no  be  married  right 
yet,  '  cause  the  girl's  mother  no  gree  for  that." 
One  woman  said  she  could  "  gree  "  to  the  rules  of 
the  Church,  only  a  man  owed  her  some  slave- 
money,  and  she  wanted  to  get  that  first,  as  she 
"  no  able  to  pay  him." 

We  could  have  organized  a  small  class,  but 
thought  it  wise  not  to  do  so. 

ANXIOUS    TO    HEAR    THE    GOSPEL. 

Yondoo,  Rembee,  and  Barkoh  are  still  alive. 
Our  meetings  there  are  not  regular ;  for  we  can 
not  always  send  workers — the  sea  is  too  rough 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  303 

and  traveling  is  dangerous.  A  few  weeks  ago 
some  young  men  who  had  gone  to  these  places  to 
hold  meetings  when  returning  had  their  barge 
upset,  and  all  the  articles  it  contained  were  lost. 
They  lloated  about  in  the  water,  clinging  to  the 
barge,  more  than  two  hours.  Some  men  in  a 
passing  canoe  finally  saw  them  and  picked  them 
up.  The  people  in  those  tows  are  arranging  to 
build  barras  during  the  coming  "  dry  season."  I 
hope,  however,  to  be  able  by  that  time  to  secure 
the  service  of  some  one  to  locate  there  ;  for  it  is 
a  field  which  promises  abundant  harvest.  Mo 
Harali,  M'Kelleh,  M'Caibay,  and  Good  Hope  were 
all  attended  to. 

We  are  compelled  to  pass  by  other  towns,  be- 
cause we  have  no  time.  I  think  there  is  enough 
work  for  many  more.  Other  stations  should  be 
opened,  forming  centers  or  starting-points  from 
which  the  work  is  to  extend. 

Danifl.  F.  Wilberforce. 

Shengay,  West  Africa,  August  16,  1880. 

AN  APPEAL  FROM  THE  DARK  CONTINENT. 

The  organization  of  a  mission-district  in  Sher- 
bro  Mission,  "West  Africa,  has  not  only  given  us 
a  prestige  hitherto  unfelt,  but  has  necessarily 
turned  our  attention  to  the  subject  of  giving  to 
the  youth  of  the  land  a  higher  Christian  educa- 
tion, thus  fitting  them  for  work  in  the  Christian 


304  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ministry.  If  the  cliurcli  in  Africa  is  to  have  that, 
rapid  and  eliectual  growth  which  God  intends,  if 
the  tribes  far  and  near  are  to  be  brought  to  the 
saving  knowledge  of  God,  it  can  only  be  done  by 
educating  native  youths  for  the  work.  They  must 
be  trained  in  our  own  institutions,  and  made  ac- 
quainted with  our  church -polity  and  doctrine. 
The  United  Brethren  in  Christ  must  educate  their 
own  ministers  and  teacliers.  In  the  past  and  at 
the  present  we  may  be  pardoned  for  employ- 
ing men  from  other  societies.  But  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  future  standing  of  this  mission  cau 
be  better  secured  in  the  training  of  its  owa 
teachers,  instead  of  going  to  other  sources  to 
look  for  help.  The  principles  and  government 
of  our  church  would  lead  us  to  look  to  America 
as  the  only  foreign  country  where  we  would  wish, 
to  have  our  youth  educated.  But  it  must  be  seen 
that  a  plan  to  educate  all  our  ministers  and  teach- 
ers in  that  far-oif  land  is  not  only  impracticable, 
but  would  little  tend  to  bring  about  the  desired 
result. 

I  call  upon  pastors,  superintendents,  and  Sab- 
bath-schools all  to  lend  a  hand  to  the  many  poor 
but  promising  young  men  of  the  land.  May  the 
Father  of  good  inspire  our  hearts  to  engage  more 
earnestly  in  this  holy  service  of  love,  sacritice,. 
and  devotion.  Daniel  F.  Wilberforce. 

Freetown,  West  Africa,  September  25,  1880. 


IN  WESTERN  AFRICA.  305 

WILD    HEATHENISM. 

Last  month,  by  advice  of  Dr.  Smith,  I  took  a 
boat  expedition  for  a  little  change  ;  and  where 
could  I  tind  a  better  place  to  visit  than  my  dear 
friends  at  your  mission  ?  I  first  went  to  Rdtufunk 
to  visit  Mrs.  Mair,  and  was  very  much  pleased 
with  what  I  saw.  It  is  as  yet  all  wild  heathen- 
ism. But  a  good  beginning  has  been  made.  Mrs. 
Mair  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  entire  com- 
munity; and  her  inlhience  is  at  work  like  the 
leaven,  which  can  not  be  without  its  effect.  They 
were  just  having  their  examinations  of  the 
schools  at  Shengay,  preparatory  to  closing  for 
the  Christmas  holidays ;  and  I  was  pleased  with 
the  interest  that  Mr.  Wilberforce  manifested  in 
that  part  of  the  work. 

I  visited  the  Turtle  Islands,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Gomer  and  Mrs.  Mair.  That  would  be  an 
interesting  field  to  occupy.  We  had  services  the 
two  evenings  I  spent  there,  and  the  people  listen- 
ed with  apparent  interest. 

D.  W.  Burton. 

January  9,  1881. 

QUARTERLY   REPORT. 

I  now  send  you  our  first  quarterly  report,  end- 
ing March  31st,  1881.  I  am  happy  to  report  that 
the  work  is   prospering  at  most  of   the  stations. 


306  MISSIONAKY   LIFE 

There  have  been  a  few  accessions  to  the  Church 

here  and  at  Mambo.  Mrs.  Evans  has  been  in  poor 

health,  but  at  present   she   is  able  to  be    about. 

Bro.  Evans  is    hearty,  and   doing   good  service. 

Bro.  AVilberforce  and  wife  have  been  at  liotufunk 

since  February  9th.    They  are  having  good  health. 

Mrs.  Gomer  has  been  failing  in  health  for  some 

time. 

The  work  here  is  becoming  so  very  interesting 

that  I  do  not  like  to  leave  it.    I  hope  to  be  able  to 

do   much  itinerating  this  year;  and  I  feel  that 

there  are  great  blessings  in  store  for  our  African 

mission.  Just  let  the  united  prayers  of  the  Church 

on  that  side  of  the  ocean  go  up  to  our  Father  in 

heaven   for  his    blessings  to  be  showered  down 

upon  this  work  and  we  are  blessed. 

J.  Gomer. 

Mission-House,  Shengay,  W.  A.,  April  11,  1881. 

LETTER    FROM    MRS.    MAIR. 

You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  the  new  stone 
house,  as  it  is  called  here,  is  finished  at  last.  It 
looks  so  fine  since  it  was  so  nicely  painted  that  it 
has  brought  new  crowds  of  strangers  to  admire 
it.  I  am  kept  so  busy  showing  them  pictures, 
etc.,  that  it  is  hard  work  to  get  any  writing  done. 

We  had  some  yqvj  heavy  rains  this  season. 
Our  boat  had  to  be  hauled  up  to  get  a  new  keel 
in  it.    I  have  just  bought  a  canoe  from  Mr.  Co- 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  307 

ker,  of  Bomphe,  so  we  can  use  it  for  itineratiug; 
and  it  will  have  to  be  used  at  once,  to  fetch  man- 
grove posts  to  build  a  good  boat-shed  on  the 
bank,  on  a  convenient  spot  selected  by  D.  F. 
"Wilberforce  when  he  was  keeping  the  place  for 
me  while  I  was  resting  in  Sierra  Leone.  So  you 
see  there  is  and  always  will  be  expensive  work 
going  on  here. 

Chief  R.  C.  Caulker  has  been  oft'  in  the  Bar- 

groo  country  for  six  months. 

M.  M.  Mair. 

Rotufunk,  West  Africa,  July  26,  1881. 

DAILY    LIFE    IN    WEST    AFRICA. 

I  was  visiting  soEie  of  our  members,  among 
them  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hompi  Tombana. 
He  was  converted  last  January,  and  joined  the 
Church  in  March.  He  has  a  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren. He  belongs  to  the  chief,  and  is  a  quiet, 
good  man.  He  was  once  employed  in  this  mis- 
sion. Yeama-Ki,  a  sick  woman,  was  in  the  same 
house  with  Hompi.  She  was  glad  I  had  come 
back  from  Freetown.  She  was  afraid  she  would 
die  before  I  returned.  She  wants  me  to  talk  over 
her  when  she  is  dead.  She  is  quite  ready  to  die ; 
for  she  knows  Jesus  will  take  her.  All  her  hope 
lives  upon  Jesus. 

In  going  my  rounds  I  came  upon  a  party  of 
six  or  eio-ht  men  who  seemed  to  be  in  trouble. 


308  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

On  inquiring  I  learned  that  a  very  old  Timmine 
woman  had  died,  and  that  they  were  not  able 
to  bury  her.  She  possessed  a  Timmine  medi- 
cine. Demen  is  the  name  of  it.  This  medicine 
must  be  thrown  on  her  before  they  could  bury 
her  ;  and  as  no  one  there  knew  the  medicine,  they 
had  sent  away  thirty  miles  to  bring  a  woman  who 
knew  the  very  medicine.  The  woman  had  come, 
but  demanded  one  head  of  money  and  eight 
pieces  of  cloth  before  she  would  pull  the  medi- 
cine. They  had  got  part;  but  how  or  Avhere  to 
get  the  rest  was  troubling  them.  They  believed 
that  if  they  were  to  put  hands  on  the  dead  wom- 
an before  she  was  washed  in  this  medicine  the 
medicine  would  catch  them  and  they  would  die. 
I  asked  to  see  the  woman.  The  medicine-woman 
led  me  to  the  hut  where  the  corpse  had  lain  for 
two  days.  I  pulled  the  mat  to  one  side  and  went 
in,  the  people  watching  to  see  if  anything  would 
happen  to  me. 

Matthew  Will  paid  six  pieces  of  cloth  for  Sa- 
teah  for  a  wife  for  himself.  After  a  couple  of 
years  she  left  him  and  went  to  be  a  wife  for  Beah. 
Matthew  said,  "  It  is  all  right.  I  shall  not  have 
to  give  her  cloths.  She  has  carried  away  two 
blankets  and  my  shirt  and  jumper.  But  never 
mind ;  God  will  give  me  more."  Will  sold  his 
house  for  £2  10s.     There  were  cassava  and  plan- 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  309 

tains  planted  near  the  house.  Yesterday  Sateah 
came  to  Rev.  Mr.  Wilberforce  to  have  him  make 
"Will  give  her  half  the  plantains.  He  brought 
the  case  to  me  ;  and  after  hearing  both  sides,  we 
decided  that  Sateah  had  wantonly  and  wickedly 
forsaken  her  husband,  and  had  no  right  to  any 
of  his  property.  She  left  apparently  quite  satis- 
fied. I  asked  Will  what  he  would  do  now,  as 
his  wife  had  left  him.  He  said  his  brother  at 
Shooney  was  going  to  send  him  a  wife  that  would 
stay  with  him  until  he  dies. 

I  went  very  early  to  a  snuiU  town  to  hold  a 
meeting.  The  people  were  not  up.  I  called  up 
the  head-man,  who  assembled  all  the  people. 
"When  I  had  finished  speaking  I  asked  if  -diiy  one 
had  anything  to  say.  The  head-man  rose  and 
said,  "  You  are  the  big  daddy  for  the  country. 
You  get  we  all.  Sunday  we  gladdy  for  that 
meeting.  We  like  it.  Every  time  you  send  the 
meeting  to  we,  we  gree  for  hold  um.  Only  I  no 
-get  chair.  When  big  man  come  I  like  for  give 
him  chair  or  bench  self;  but  I  no  get.  Look  to 
•day,  you  come  and  I  have  to  spread  mat  for  you. 
Do  Mr.  Gomer  send  me  bench,  so  when  you  come 
^gain  I  can  give  you  good  seat." 

J.  Gomer. 

Shengay,  W.  A.,  August,  1881. 


310  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS. 

Nearly  all  the  towns  between  the  Cockborough 
and  Tucker  rivers  have  been  visited.  Beyond  the 
Cockborough  and  as  far  interior  as  McComboo, 
and  up  the  mainland,  touching"  Saunno  on  the 
Bomphe  River,  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  are 
heard  by  the  people.  I  rejoice  in  the  success  of 
the  gospel  in  this  territory.  You  have  reason  to 
take  courage  from  the  rapid  progress  made  by 
your  work  here.  God's  name  be  praised.  But 
my  heart  burns  for  other  towns  and  people,  drawn 
nearer  to  me  by  the  strongest  ties  of  nature,  that 
are  still  beyond  this  gospel  influence. 

Brother  J.  Gomer,  in  his  letter  of  August  25th, 
says:  "Our  king  is  very  sick.  On  last  Friday  I 
went  to  Mocubby  to  see  him.  lie  said  he  always 
praj^ed  ;  that  he  was  a  praying  man.  I  told  him 
that  saying  prayers  is  not  always  praying.  I 
read  to  him  from  the  Scriptures,  and  talked  and 
prayed  with  him.  Mrs.  Mair  was  well  at  last 
accounts.  With  reference  to  our  appropriations- 
for  the  mission,  I  am  afraid  we  have  too  much 
work  planned  for  this  year.  Soorie  Kasebba, 
Mrs.  Mair's  chief,  is  in  Freetown.  He  says  he 
will  worship  God  only;  that  he  can  not  follow 
Mohammedans  any  more.  He  came  here  to  see 
the  new  governor,  who  is  a  Christian ;  and  th& 
governor  talked  good  words  to  him." 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  311 

Mr.  Gomer  wrote  again,  September  10th,  eight 
days  after  the  chief's  death,  "I  was  with  him 
three  days  before  his  death,  and  talked  and  pray- 
ed with  him,  but  have  no  evidence  that  he  was 
saved.  The  services  were  in  the  barra,  wliere  the 
corpse  lay  in  state.  Brother  Evans  preached  the 
funeral  sermon  to  from  three  to  four  hundred 
people.  His  brother,  Thomas  Caulker,  who  was 
with  the  chief  when  he  died,  says  he  has  every 
reason  to  believe  that  he  was  saved,  as  he  con- 
stantly asked  to  be  prayed  for,  and  died  very 
easy." 

Rev.  J.  A.  Evans  wrote  the  26th  of  September, 
*'The  country  is  in  an  unsettled  condition,  there 
being  no  king  or  chief  chosen  yet.  Mr.  Thomas 
Neal  Caulker  is  acting  chief  at  present.  Satur- 
day and  yesterday  we  held  our  second  quarterly 
meeting  at  Shengay  for  this  year.  Five  persons 
were  received  into  the  Church,  and  two  were 
baptized.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  interest  mani- 
fested. Brother  D.  F.  Wilberforce  is  also  having 
some  revival  at  Manoh,  where  he  has  lately  hold 
a  week  of  prayer,  and  where  Brother  Gomer 
organized  a  church  the  other  round  of  quarterly 
meetings.     There  are  a  number  of  seekers." 


312  MISSIONARY   LITE 

SHERBRO    MISSION    AND    ITS    WANTS. 

[Report  made  to  the  Board,  May,  1882.] 

Shengay,  the  oldest  and  principal  station  of 
tins  mission,  is  located  seven  and  a  half  degrees 
north  of  the  equator,  and  immediately  on  the 
coast.  Here  there  are  one  hundred  acres  of  land 
helonging  to  the  mission,  nearly  all  of  which  is 
cleared  and  cultivated  in  coffee,  corn,  arrowroot, 
cassava,  and  other  things. 

Its  buildings  consist  of  a  mission-residence  and 
chapel,  each  thirty  by  forty-five  feet,  with  stone 
walls  and  slate  roofs,  making  them  durable.  To 
this  residence  a  frame  store-house,  with  office  and 
bedroom,  is  attached,  which  is  also  of  a  perma- 
nent character.  Here  are  also  a  number  of  labor- 
ers' houses,  tailor,  blacksmith,  and  carpenter 
shops,  the  boys'  lodging-house  and  rice-house,  all 
country  built,  and  hence  are  not  very  durable; 
and  besides,  they  must  be  repaired  once  or  twice 
every  year.  Here  we  have  a  day-school  averag- 
ing seventy  scholars,  and  a  Sunday-school  of  one 
hundred.  There  are  in  the  industrial  school 
twenty-eight  boys  and  twelve  girls.  These  work 
about  five  hours  and  study  four  hours  each  day. 
Each  morning,  at  6:00  a.  m.,  they,  with  laborers 
and  missionaries,  spend  about  one  half  an  hour 
in  worship ;  then  each  Tuesday  evening  there  is  a 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  313 

Bible  class;  Thursday,  prayer-meeting;  Sunday, 
at  6:00  a.  m.,  class-meetings ;  preaching  at  11:00 
A.  iM.  and  6:00  P.  M.;  Sunday-school  at  2:00  p.  m. 
At  all  these  meetings  the  mission-children  and 
other  citizen  children  and  adults,  with  laborers, 
are  present.  Here  there  is  an  organized  church. 
In  a  north-eastern  direction,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Shengay,  is  Rembee  Station,  where 
we  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  a 
large  country-built  house,  which  furnishes  room 
for  the  schools,  preaching,  and  a  place  of  resi- 
dence for  the  missionary.  Here  we  have  a  good 
beginning,  with  only  four  children  in  the  indus- 
trial school  and  but  little  land  cultivated.  But 
the  outlook  is  quite  hopeful.  This  place  was 
commenced  within  the  last  two  years.  Fifteen 
miles  south  from  Rembee  is  Mambo  Station. 
Here  we  also  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land,  a  good  country  chapel,  a  small  farm 
opened,  nineteen  children  in  the  industrial  school, 
and  quite  a  number  of  other  children  in  both  day 
and  Sunday-schools.  Here  is  an  organized  socie- 
ty. About  fifteen  miles  east  from  Mambo  is  Mo 
Fuss,  where  we  have  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land  and  no  buildings,  the  station  having  just 
been  commenced.  Twenty  miles  south  from  this 
place  is  the  town  of  Tongkohloh,  where  we  have 
also    one   hundred   and  sixty  acres  of  land,  but 


314  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

nothing  else  —  not  even  a  native  missionary. 
About  eighteen  miles  from  here  in  a  north-west- 
ern direction  is  Koolong,  where  we  have  another 
tract  of  laud  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  a 
new  frame  mission-residence  and  country-built 
chapel,  twenty-six  children  in  the  industrial 
school,  who,  with  the  children  supported  b}"  their 
parents  and  friends,  make  a  good-sized  dny  and 
Sunday-school.  Here  there  is  also  an  organized 
church,  and  the  prospects  are  good.  From  here 
north  to  Shengay  it  is  about  fifteen  miles  more. 
Between  these  places  is  Manoh  Station,  where 
we  have  no  land  other  than  that  which  is  occu- 
pied by  the  two  country-built  houses  we  have 
there.  Here  there  are  twelve  children  in  the 
industrial  department,  day  and  Sunday-schools,, 
and  an  organized  church,  which,  though  none  are 
large,  all  are  in  a  flourishing  condition.  This  is 
not  intended  to  become  a  regular  mission-station^ 
and  will  be,  as  it  has  been,  supplied  with  preach- 
ing from  Shengay  or  Koolong.  It  was  com- 
menced, and  is  now  carried  forward,  by  Mrs. 
Lucy  Curtis  Caulker,  one  of  our  native  converts. 
Mo  Fuss  is  in  charge  of  Thomas  Tucker,  assisted 
by  Frank  Dickson,  both  of  whom  are  also  native 
converts.  In  this  circle  of  mission-stations,  ex- 
tending a  little  over  one  hundred  miles  in  cir- 
cumference and  within  easy  reach  of  them,  we 


IN    WESTERN    AFRICA.  315 

now  preach  in  from  seventy  or  eighty  towns. 
This  is  done  by  sending  out  as  itinerants  a  num- 
ber of  native  converts  and  the  mechanics  which 
we  employ.  Our  blacksmith,  carpenter,  tailor, 
and  all  are  school-teachers — are  selected  with  ref- 
erence to  this.  Our  day-schools  are  in  operation 
only  four  days  in  the  week,  giving  Saturday, 
Sunday,  and  Monday  to  teachers  and  pupils,  such 
as  can  be  used,  to  itinerating.  It  will  also  be 
seen  that  we  now  have  about  one  hundred  chil- 
dren in  the  industrial  departments.  A  consid- 
erable number  of  these  in  the  past  have  become 
professors  of  religion,  and  we  hope  to  see,  in  time 
to  come,  a  large  per  cent  of  them  become  Chris- 
tians. From  the  ranks  of  these  boys  we  expect 
to  procure  native  helpers,  who,  as  school-teachers, 
itinerants,  mechanics,  farmers,  and  boatmen,  will 
render  us  valuable  service  in  time  to  come. 

The  land  we  have  at  each  of  the  regular  sta- 
tions will  enable  us  to  settle  them  on  lots  of  from 
live  to  ten  acres  each,  and  thus  keep  them  under 
Christian  inHuence  and  from  living  in  heathen 
towns. 

One  of  the  indispensable  things  to  do  to  save 
Africa  is  to  teach  her  people  to  develop  the  re- 
sources of  that  country  and  thereby  obtain  the 
means  to  procure  the  things  necessary  to  live  civ- 
ilized Christian  lives.     Our  farming  there  has  al- 


316  MISSIONARY   LIFE 

ready  put  quite  a  number  to  growing  coffee  and 
other  things  which  they  see  can  be  made  profit- 
able to  themselves  and  the  country.  Our  black- 
smith, carpenter,  and  tailor  shops  are  exerting  an 
excellent  influence,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that 
more  and  better  clothing  is  worn,  better  houses 
and  boats  built,  more  furniture  and  conveniences 
in  them.  It  is  w^onderful  how  many  things  are 
becoming  a  necessity  to  the  people  around  our 
mission-houses,  which  a  few  years  ago  they  had 
no  use  for  at  all. 

Said  Chief  Caulker  to  me  the  other  day, — and 
in  this  he  represented  the  sentiments  of  all  the 
better  class  of  men  in  that  country, — I  w^ould  not 
know  how  to  get  along  without  the  mission ;  its 
schools,  shops,  farms,  stores,  and  the  religious 
services  have  become  a  necessity  to  my  people 
here.  To  the  Sherbro  people  it  would  be  like  if 
Americans  had  to  dispense  with  railway  and  tele- 
graph lines  and  daily  papers  to  have  no  mission 
now.  Our  blacksmith  and  tailor  shops  do  con- 
siderable work  for  them.  Our  store  sells  them 
large  quantities  of  goods.  It  will  not  be  long 
until  other  kinds  of  business  will  be  in  demand 
there,  such  as  shoe-making,  millinery,  and  dress- 
making. We  now  need  at  Shengay  a  good  black- 
smith, who  could  play  tinner  also ;  a  good  car- 
penter, cabinet-maker,  and  painter ;  a  tailor  who 


IN   WESTERN   AFRICA.  317 

could  play  the  cobbler  and  barber,  and  a  doctor 
who  could  practice  dentistry,  surgery,  and  mend 
things  generally.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is 
an  important  part  of  mission-work  there  to  teach 
the  people  how  to  farm,  how  to  build  and  live  in 
houses,  how  to  raise,  cook,  and  eat  footl,  how  ta 
make  and  wear  clothing,  how  to  take  care  of 
their  bodies  as  well  as  their  souls.  If  they  are  to 
be  civilized  and  Christianized  they  must  be  helped 
out  of  the  small,  dirty,  cheerless,  mud-huts  in 
which  they  now  live.  Clothes  must  be  put  upon 
their  naked  bodies,  their  food  must  be  eaten  from 
tables  instead  of  sitting  on  the  ground  and  taking 
it  with  their  hands  out  of  the  vessel  in  which  it 
was  cooked,  and  they  must  sleep  ui)on  some  kind 
of  decent  beds  instead  of  on  grass-mats  as  the 
majority  of  them  now  do.  To  accomplish  these 
things,  profitable  employment  must  be  given 
them.  They  are  capable  of  intellectual,  moral, 
and  physical  culture,  of  mastering  the  most  diffi- 
cult professions  and  trades,  and  of  becoming  good 
mechanics,  doctors,  lawyers,  preachers,  and  au- 
thors. They  love  to  acquire  property,  and  show 
real  skill  in  anuissing  aiMl  managing  wealth,  as  a 
rule,  to  good  advantage.  In  Freetown  many  of 
the  most  successful  merchants,  doctors,  and  minis- 
ters are  colored  men ;  and  the  most  successful  and 
well-qualified  lawyer  there  is  a  full-blooded  negro 
and  a  native  African, 


318  MISFIONAKY   LIFE 

The  language,  "  Teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded,"  includes 
the  work  of  teaching  them  how  to  live  and  labor, 
so  that  all  things  may  be  done  decently  ajid  in 
order.  "Not  slothful  in  business,  fervent  in 
spirit,  serving  the  Lord,"  is  also  a  divine  com- 
mand, and  one  based  on  true  reformatory  princi- 
ples. An  idle  mind  may  well  be  called  the 
devil's  work-shop.  Laziness,  nakedness,  and 
filthiness  are  but  other  names  for  wickedness. 
The  apostle  declares,  yea,  commands,  "  that  if 
any  would  not  work,  neither  should  he  eat." 
There  are  many  things  embraced  in  "•  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you,"  as  these 
words  were  spoken  by  Christ  to  the  successful 
prosecution  of  missiou-vv^ork  jn  western  Africa. 
To  do  this  properly  may  require,  as  it  did  in  the 
case  of  D.  F.  Wilberforce,  to  bring  some  of  these 
heathen  people  to  America  and  teach  them  here. 
He  now,  as  superintendent  of  Sherbro  mission- 
schools,  presiding  elder  of  that  district,  and 
preacher  in  charge  of  a  large  mission,  including 
twenty  odd  towns,  is  doing  good  service  for  our 
cause.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  he  could  have 
become  so  efficient  a  teacher  and  missionary  in 
twice  the  length  of  time  in  Africa,  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances,  as  in  the  six  or 
seven  years  spent  here. 


IN    WESTERN   AFRICA.  319 

BOMPHB   MISSION. 

In  former  portions  of  this  volume  reference  is 
made  to  Rotnfunk  and  other  stations  occupied  in 
Africa  by  the  Woman's  Missionary  Association 
of  the  United  Bretliren  Church.  Rotufunk,  their 
principal  station,  is  not  to  exceed  thirty  miles 
from  Renibee,  one  of  our  stations,  and  is  less 
than  fifty  miles  from  Shengay,  our  head-quarters. 

They  can  easily  reach  many  towns,  a  number 
■of  which  are  large,  from  their  head  -  quarters. 
Thej'  have  already  opened  several  stations,  and 
are  doing  an  excellent  work.  Mrs.  Mair,  the  lady 
ill  charge  of  this  work,  and  who  is  quite  a  suc- 
cessful missionary,  in  her  last  report,  made  May, 
1882,  says : 

I  am  glad  that  my  last  six-months'  account  is 
ready  to  send  to  you.  My  feeble  health  and  the 
press  of  work  on  me  at  Rotufunk  seemed  to 
make  the  completion  of  my  report  impossible. 

The  month  of  July,  1881,  began  with  a  very 
disturbed  state  of  the  country, — plundering  and 
rumors  of  wars  from  far  and  near.  The  chief, 
R.  C.  B.  Caulker,  had  been  absent  several  months, 
and  the  burden  of  governing  the  whole  Bomphe 
country  was  on  our  head-man,  Sourie  Kessabie. 
He  called  at  the  mission-house  to  tell  me  that  he 
did'  not  know  what  more  to  do  to  preserve  peace 
in  the  country.    He  said  that  the  Caulkers  on  the 


320         MISSIONARY    LIFE     IN    WESTERN    AFRICA. 

Ribbie  River  were  envious  because  we  had  built 
such  a  line  liouse  in  liis  town,  while  they  had 
nothinir  so  line  in  their  part  of  the  Bomphe 
country.  So  they  were  trying  to  get  the  young 
people  to  "  bring  war  to  Rotufunk "  to  break 
down  our  "tine  stone  house,"  as  they  call  it,  and 
drive  the  mission  from  the  country.  He  wanted 
me  to  send  for  Mr.  Gomer,  to  come  from  Shengay 
and  help  him  out  of  his  difficulty.  He  said  that 
it  was  Mr.  Gomer  who  got  the  mission  put  there 
at  the  Urst,  so  now  he  wanted  his  advice  as  to- 
what  he  had  better  do.  I  wrote  to  Shengay, 
asking  Mr.  Gomer  to  come  to  his  aid.  Mr.  Go- 
mer did  not  come;  but  he  sent  a  letter  of  advice, 
by  the  boat.  Things  began  then  to  get  a  little 
more  quiet  for  awhile.  We  kept  going  steadily 
on  with  our  work  in  the  midst  of  all  the  com- 
motion and  cries  of  war.  The  rains  were  very 
heavy,  and  as  the  roof  of  the  barra  leaked,  and 
the  mud  in  and  around  it  was  very  deep,  we  were 
compelled  to  take  our  Sabbath-morning  service 
back  to  the  school-house.  As  tliere  were  always 
crowds  of  "Timmine"  strangers  around  Kessa- 
bie's  house  and  yard  I  got  Mr.  Wilson  to  hold 
meetings  on  Sabbath  and  Thursday  afternoons,  at 
live  o'clock,  in  his  place.  The  "  Gleaners'  Mes- 
senger" canoe  has  ])een  going  to  many  places,  car- 
rying missionaries  to  preach  the  gospel,  through, 
the  week  as  well  as  on  Sabbath. 


DATE  DUE 


-*i4iaim; 


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